


Flashes of Blue

by CacophonyOfWords



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Comedy, Friendship, M/M, Post-Canon, Romance, also if you know me or any of my stories you will probably guess the ending, and the rating went up, hopefully i didnt make another tag fail now, please read the note at the beginning of the story, the OMC is not an asshole as I dont want Rin to date an awful person, was that a spoiler? idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-14 16:53:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7181210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CacophonyOfWords/pseuds/CacophonyOfWords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin has always planned his life looking at the long run.<br/>Train hard to win the Olympic gold.<br/>Study and graduate to ensure a career after.</p><p>But, seeing his friends' social lives seem to be way ahead of his own, Rin starts to realize he might have forgotten to plan for something—love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Midnight Blue

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a post graduation fic. I know the fandom has a speculated timeline in which the show was set but for creativity reasons, I had to change it a bit. It's nothing huge but take it as a heads up since at some point, the Championship in Rome will be discussed in the future plans for the boys.  
> A big part of the story is also set in Sydney, which is why there will be a good chunk of original characters. There are other minor pairings that get mentioned and other characters from the show will also appear, I just didn't want to tag them all because their role in the story is not that important.

Rin stretched his back on the wooden bench he was currently sitting on, his legs extended and crossed at the ankles. The chilly air filled his lungs and a cough escaped his throat, caused by that uncomfortable cold feeling. Even if it was Summer in Japan, the nights in Hokkaido were almost as cold as those in Sydney during the same time of the year, and yet, Rin still felt warm. He zipped up the front of his jacket, burying his nose inside, and inhaled the scent of the fabric softener. Despite being unfamiliar to him, it was an amazing smell, Rin had to admit. Because it was the smell of a national team jacket—his very own. 

Rin had made it to the national team, and there he was, in Hokkaido, taking part in the retreat with the other swimmers that had qualified.

It wasn’t even the first time he was wearing the national jacket, but it made Rin just as excited as the first time. Rin had made the team a year prior and he had already taken part in his very first World Championship, which had been hosted in Australia. He hadn’t managed to get a medal but he had still defeated every Australian in his heat, which counted as one kind of revenge itself.

But that had been months ago, and now Rin had a new goal set in front of him: qualifying for the next Summer Olympic games.

A grin displayed on Rin’s face as he looked up at the dark sky above him, bright stars sprinkled all over the almost pitch black background.

“You can see a lot of stars here, right?” Rin said, tilting his head to the side to look at Haru.

That might have been the cherry on top. Because of course Haru had made the team on the same day as Rin had, and the two of them had worn the same colours in Melbourne. They hadn’t competed against each other, not yet – Rin had tried to qualify in freestyle, but had come third after Namura-san and Haru, the spot escaping him by a split second. So Rin had talked with his coaches, coach Brown and coach Kurasawa, deciding to currently give his whole focus to the butterfly races. For the time being, he and Haru would settle to race only outside official competitions.

Haru nodded, looking around as well. His eyes, usually clear blue, seemed darker in the light of just the stars and the streetlamp a few meters away. “It reminds me of Iwatobi,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, I can’t see them clearly like this in Sydney. I guess it’s the same in Tokyo?”

“Pretty much,” Haru agreed, his eyebrows knit in slight worry. “Rin?”

“Yes?” Rin looked at him, mirroring Haru’s frown.

Haru opened his mouth to say something, but stopped suddenly with his lips already parted, looking almost hesitating to speak.

“What’s up?” Rin encouraged him with a smile.

“Are you okay?” The frown on Haru’s forehead relaxed a bit, but his expression was still apprehensive. “I never asked you about the relay,” he added in a lower voice.

“Oh,” Rin noted, surprised. Yeah, that was a sore spot. Not being the fastest in their categories, neither of them was picked to make the relay team in Australia. “It’s okay,” he reassured Haru with a small smile. “Japan still got a silver medal. This just means we will have to train more to make the relay team at the Olympics and get gold.”

“You sure?” Haru asked with concern.

“Yeah,” Rin reassured him yet again. “I’m not letting myself get beat because of that! I have other things to look forward to. Like finishing my last semester in time, graduating by the end of the year, and coming back to Japan for good.”

Haru’s frown finally relaxed.

Rin grinned at him and nudged him with his elbow. “So, are you excited to finally go back home to Iwatobi?” He asked, switching the topic. “I bet you can’t wait to soak in that bathtub of yours.”

“Oi,” Haru protested, looking slightly offended. “It’s not my fault if the one in our room is tiny.”

Rin snorted. “What do you even do in there for so long?” he asked curiously.

Haru turned his gaze towards the scenery in front of them, the town’s light sparkling in the distance. “Whatever makes me feel good,” he said with a shrug.

“Which is?” Rin inquired.

Haru turned to look at him, his eyebrows raised like the answer was obvious.

Rin frowned at him, confused, before a sense of understanding dawned on him.

_Oh…_

He bit on his tongue, wondering how to get himself out of that situation – because he for sure didn’t think that a bench in the outskirts of Hokkaido at night was the best time to discuss matters of self-pleasuring.

Thankfully, a chirp indicating he had just received an email resounded from his pocket. He pulled out his cellphone to look at the message he had just gotten.

 

_“Rin-chan (ノ＞▽＜。)ノ_

_How is the retreat going? Are you having fun?_

_I hope you planned a surprise for Haru-chan today!! (*≧m≦*)_

_It’s his birthday so you better have prepared something!!_

_Say hello to Haru-chan and wish him_

_Happy birthday in my name_

_(ノ＞▽＜。)ノ_

_I sent him an email but he didn’t reply （ ＴДＴ）_

_Good night, Rin-chan!_

_See you next week in Iwatobi! ～(^з^)-☆_

_Nagisa”_

 

Rin snorted as he finished reading the message. He closed the email app and opened the camera one. 

“Okay, Haru, selfie-time,” he warned the other boy, sliding close to him and wrapping an arm around Haru’s shoulder.

“Why?” Haru asked with a frown.

“Nagisa just emailed me, threatening me if I forgot your birthday,” he explained as he outstretched his other arm in front of them to take the picture. “Say cheese.”

“Mackerel,” Haru muttered as Rin snapped the photo.

“Hey, you hid yourself behind the Kuroro thing!” Rin protested as he looked at the final result.

Haru threw an annoyed glance at him. “It’s Keroro,” he said, peeking over to see the selfie himself. Their faces were pressed together and you could see Rin’s hand forming a ‘V’ gesture sneaking from the right corner of the photo. Haru’s half-smile was hidden by a black frog plushie.

The sound of a car approaching disturbed them and Haru looked down the road.

“Coach is here,” he said before standing up.

“Coming,” Rin said as he followed.

Once they were seated in the backseat of the car, Rin pulled up his email app again, starting a new message and attaching the photo.

 

_“The retreat is great._

_The resort prepared a cake for Haru,_

_we had it for lunch._

_It was too sweet for both of us. (´ρ`)_

_Got permission from our coach to_

_go to the movies in the afternoon,_

_We watched one of those weird_

_creatures movies that Haru likes. (`へ´*)ノ_

_Got him a plushie at the arcade,_

_I’m the best (｀∇´)_

_Gnight, see you next week_

_Rin”_

 

* * *

 

Rin hadn’t stopped cursing under his breath as he followed Haru away from the baggage claim area at the Osaka International Airport. 

“You’re being annoying,” Haru didn’t even look back at him, continuing his walk down the airport while pulling a trolley behind him.

“Easy for you,” Rin muttered. “They didn’t lose your luggage.” 

Rin rearranged the strap of his duffel bag on his shoulder, at least not all of his luggage got lost. He would have to make a list of stuff he’d probably need to rebuy before going back to Australia. First item on it: a new trolley.

“Onii-chan!”

Rin looked up surprised as the voice reached him. In the distance, he could see Gou waving and running towards them.

“Gou?” he asked, confused, when she reached them. “What are you doing here?”

His sister took a few seconds to catch her breath before looking up at him with a grin. “We thought of surprising you and came to pick you up.”

“We?” Haru wondered.

Gou nodded with a smile. “Sousuke is waiting outside, in the parking lot.” 

Rin sighed. “There was no need for this,” he complained, “we could have just taken the train.”

Paying no mind to Rin’s complaints, Gou shrugged. “I thought it would be a nice welcome,” she said, opening her purse and rummaging through it. “Say cheese!” She suddenly said, snapping a photo of her brother and Haru. “Perfect,” she smiled, looking on the small screen. Rin could only wonder what kind of perfect was the final result; both he and Haru were visibly tired from the trip, Haru with his hair still mussed from the nap he had taken, and Rin looking thoroughly irritated from the lost luggage shenanigans.

As if on cue, Gou looked at his feet. “Is that all you have?” she wondered.

“Nah,” Rin reinforced his grip on the duffel bag. “They lost my trolley, that’s why we stayed behind. Had to fill all the papers.”

“Did they say how long it will take to find it?”

“At least a few days, maybe weeks, or even months,” Rin repeated what the airport people had told him. “Anyway, should we get going? I don’t know about you, Haru, but I’m ready to get home and eat something.”

“Ah, yes!” Gou clapped her hands. “We’re actually staying at Obaa-san’s house in Iwatobi. Mom prepared some food for us. Haruka-senpai, you’re welcome to join us,” she said with a smile.

“Will there be mackerel?”

Rin snorted. Haru would never change.

Gou smiled. “I think we will find some for you!”

 

* * *

 

Despite the short flight, the whole travel had made Rin more exhausted than he had imagined. He remembered the car getting on the highway and, next thing he knew, his sister was shaking his shoulder, pulling him out of the slumber he had fallen into.

“Ngh?” Rin blinked his eyes in confusion, looking up at his sister’s face.

“Onii-chan, we’re home,” she explained with a smile. “You and Haruka-senpai fell asleep on the way here.”

Rin only then noticed the heavy weight against his shoulder. He awkwardly turned his head to see a mop of dark hair – Haru still soundly asleep against him.

“Oi, Nanase,” Rin said, shrugging his shoulder, and waking the other boy instantly.

“Mackerel?” Haru muttered, slowly opening his eyelids.

Rin grunted. “Come on, we’re here.” He climbed out of the car and took a few steps to stretch his legs. Then, he walked to the back of the car, where Sousuke was opening the trunk.

“Which one’s yours?” Sousuke asked, pointing at the two identical duffel bags.

Rin went for the left one. “Shark charm,” he grinned, pointing at the small plushie hanging from the zipper.

Sousuke snorted. “Never change.” After closing the trunk, they joined Haru and Gou at the front door. “I’ll drive you home later, Nanase,” Sousuke said as they waited for Gou to find the keys and unlock the door.

“Thanks,” Haru said with a nod.

“Watch your step,” Gou warned suddenly when they walked in the genkan and they started toeing off of the shoes. “We need to change the lightbulb on the hallway, so we’re in the dark.”

Rin muttered under his breath and fished his phone out of his pocket, sliding over the touch screen and lighting up the space. “You suck at hosting,” he said jokingly at his sister, who stuck her tongue out at him in reply. Stepping forward, Rin lit up the way down the long hallway “Come on, Haru, I’ll show you the way.”

Thinking back, Rin shouldn’t even have been surprised. In fact, he should have seen it coming the second Gou and Sousuke had appeared at the airport to pick them up.

Once they had reached the shoji and Rin had slid it open, a series of events happened in short succession. First a bright light blinded both him and Haru, followed by lots of noise caused mainly by party poppers, screams and yells – the noisiest being Nagisa’s ‘Rin-chan!’ and ‘Haru-chan!’ Next thing Rin knew, he and Haru were covered in confetti; red, white and blue bits of papers were adorning the tops of their heads, and both of them were just staring at their group of friends in front of them.

“Surpise!” Nagisa yelled, pulling the string of yet another popper, aiming it above his own head this time.

“Welcome home, Haruka-senpai and Rin-san!” Rei followed, a bright red bit of paper stuck on the left lens of his glasses. “Congratulations on your first World Championship and surviving another retreat!”

“And a happy belated birthday to you, Haru-chan!” Makoto added at the end.

Rin exchanged a look with Haru before looking around the room. Red, white and blue balloons were scattered all around the place, a few paper streams hanging across the roof and a Chinese dragon attached on one of the walls.

“Thank you,” Haru said from his spot while Rin was still confusedly looking at the dragon.

“What’s the point of that?” he asked eventually, as he settled on the tatami between Gou and Haru.

“Well, the Olympic games are next year in China,” Nagisa explained enthusiastically. “So I hanged the dragon for good luck! You two will make it there for sure!” he said, dragging yet another popper out of nowhere and scattering another wave of confetti all around them.

“Nagisa-kun!” Rei yelped. “You are ruining all the food!”

Nagisa just waved at him. “Ahh, don’t worry, it’s still edible. Look at Haru-chan, he’s not bothered at all!”

Rin turned his head to look, and indeed, Haru was busy munching on a piece of what looked like fried fish – mackerel probably, a piece of blue confetti stuck to the side of it.

“Paper is not nutritious,” Rin snorted, plucking the confetti away.

Haru just shrugged and continued eating.

 

* * *

 

A little while later, Rin found himself in the kitchen, digging through the fridge for a cold drink, when Sousuke joined him.

“Yo,” Rin greeted him, offering his friend a can of coke and taking one for himself without a second thought.

“Hey,” Sousuke saluted right back, leaning against the counter and taking a sip of the drink. “You ran away?” he asked, pointing towards the rest of the friends.

“Not really,” Rin said, cracking open his own soda. “I just needed a minute for myself. I’m kind of tired, and all that noise is giving me a headache.”

Sousuke nodded. “How was Hokkaido?”

Rin’s expression changed and a relaxed smile stretched across his lips. “Amazing. Just… training with the rest of the national team is such a great experience. Just being able to talk with people who are on the same path as you, with the same dream…” he mentally flinched and looked carefully at Sousuke. His friend was just smiling at him.

“Relax, I’m not upset anymore. I got over it,” Sousuke assured him.

“How’s school?” Rin asked, set on changing the topic.

“I’m doing good,” Sousuke answered. “Dad is already making plans for when he retires and leaves the studio to me.”

Rin grinned. Even if a part of him had always hoped Sousuke’s shoulder would get better enough for him to go back to swimming professionally, he was sincerely glad Sousuke had found a second option. Business school had turned out to be a pretty good fit for his friend. Rin would have never imagined it before, Sousuke helming a photo studio, of all things, but from the looks of it, it seemed like the family business would be in good hands. His grandfather would be very proud.

“Speaking of which,” Rin suddenly remembered. “Gou told me she is working there this summer?”

Sousuke choked a bit on the coke he was sipping. “Yeah,” he muttered. “As much as I can be great at handling business deals and accounting, my photographic skills are pretty awful. She’s being a great assistant to dad,” Sousuke said with a smile.

Rin grinned, a sense of proudness spreading inside him. He was still as shocked as the first time he had heard that his sister would pursue photographic art instead of… well, anything that would involve touching muscles, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t find the profession right up Gou’s alley. If nothing else, every time Rin had gone back to Sydney from Japan, it was with one full photo album of him and his friends.

“Which reminds me,” Rin’s voice dropped suddenly, turning into a more serious tune. “I was talking with mom the other day, and she said something about Gou having a boyfriend. Did you see some boy hanging around the shop? Her leaving with someone?” he asked concerned.

Confused, Sousuke drew his eyebrows before snorting. “Me?”

“Yeah, you,” Rin nodded. “You work at the shop with her, maybe you saw this boyfriend of hers? Gou didn’t want to tell me anything when I asked her on the phone.”

Sousuke sighed loudly and dropped his head in defeat before looking up as if contemplating something. He slowly turned to look back at Rin, pointing at his own face.

“I am dating Gou,” he said slowly, accentuating each word.

Rin’s eyes bulged out. The can slipped off his hand, falling with a hollow thump on the floor—somewhere in the back of his mind, Rin was glad he had drank enough that none had spilled on the floor.

“You _what?_ ” he asked, his voice going pitchy high. “You can’t be dating Gou!” he hissed back. “Stop joking around!”

“I’m not,” Sousuke sad calmly, and looked through the kitchen door towards the living room. Gou could be seen discussing something animatedly with Nagisa. Sousuke’s lips stretched in a smile, and Rin felt his shoulders sagging.

“You _are_ serious,” he realized.

Sousuke looked back at him. “Yeah,” he said with a slow nod.

Rin frowned. “You better not…”

“You know I wouldn’t,” Sousuke interrupted him, shutting Rin’s warning down. “You know me way too well to know I would never do something to hurt her.”

Rin sighed and bent down to pick up the forgotten can. Sousuke was right; Rin did know that. He probably wouldn’t have wished for a better boyfriend for his sister. Not that he could have any word in picking Gou’s boyfriend—his sister would probably kick him hard enough to ruin his career if he would so much as try to mingle in her love life but… she was still Rin’s little sister.

“Take care of her, okay?” he said eventually, bringing up his closed fist between them. He looked up at Sousuke with a stern gaze, a matching serious one already waiting for him.

“You know I will,” Sousuke said, bumping his fist against Rin’s.

 

* * *

 

It had been a few more hours until the whole group was back in the genkan, everyone minus the Matsuoka siblings putting their shoes on.

“Thanks for the party, guys,” Rin said with a tired smile.

“Ah, thanks for letting us having it here,” Makoto said, returning the smile.

Nagisa balanced on the tip of his toes as he finished slipping his shoes on.

“Sou-chan, you really don’t mind driving all of us home?” he asked, looking at the taller boy.

“It’s on the way,” Sousuke said with a shrug. “I have Nanase’s luggage in the car, anyway.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience,” Rei said with a small bow of his head before turning back to the two siblings. “And please thank your mother, too.”

“Ah, don’t worry,” Gou assured him with a wave of her hand. “She was more than happy to give us the keys.”

“Rin,” Haru suddenly said, appearing right in front of him. “Will you go running tomorrow?”

“Huh,” Rin blinked in surprise, scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, but I’ll skip the morning one, I need a good night of sleep. I’ll go for a run in the evening, want me to call you?”

Haru gave him a short nod in reply.

“Ehhhh?” Nagisa asked. “Aren’t you two on a break?”

“We still need to keep in shape,” Rin explained.

“When is the next competition?” Rei asked curiously.

“Umm,” Rin rummaged through his brain as a short yawn escaped his mouth. “There’s the Swimming World Cup in the fall,” he said, “but it overlaps with the end of my classes, and I have to graduate this semester, no matter what.”

“Is Haru-chan competing?” Nagisa asked.

Haru shook his head. “It’s a short course competition, I don’t like those.”

“But I really wanted to see Rin-chan and Haru-chan competing again,” Nagisa pouted. “The trip to Australia was so fun,” he added.

Rin smiled fondly, recalling the short time that Nagisa, Makoto, and Rei had spent in Melbourne to cheer him and Haru on.

“Ok, we should seriously go now.” Sousuke said, his deep voice resounding in the quiet night. Rin noticed only then that his best friend had moved near Gou. On reflex, he himself slid closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Yes, you’re right, it’s really getting late,” Rin said with a smirk on his face. “Thanks again, guys, good night!” he chirped, throwing a glance at the taller boy.

Sousuke just snorted and turned around to look at Gou, his hand squeezing hers briefly. “I’ll call you,” he said as he opened the front door and stepped outside, the other boys following close behind.

“I’ll wait for your call,” Rin sang back, throwing a wave at Haru who was the last one to exit.

“Need help cleaning up?” he asked when he and Gou were finally alone.

“No, don't worry. Sousuke helped me put away all the food already. What’s left are just the paper decorations, we can clean those tomorrow.”

“Talking about Sousuke helping you... you two were hiding in the kitchen for a while.” Rin said in a stern voice.

Gou looked at him funnily before turning on her toes and taking a seat on the stairs. Rin followed her, and sat down on the step above her, on the same spot as when they were kids.

“Remember when we were little and we would spend summer break here?” Rin suddenly asked.

Gou nodded. “Obaa-chan always left for the market before we woke up, so we would always wait here for her to come back and see if she bought us anything.”

A sad smile appeared on his face. A sense of melancholy hit him as he realized how many years had passed since then.

“I’m okay with the idea of you and Sousuke, you know that, right?” he said suddenly, throwing a side look at his sister.

“I know,” Gou nodded.

“I just don’t like the idea of you growing up so fast.”

His sister trembled with laughter. “I’m twenty years old, Onii-chan.”

“No,” Rin objected. “I am twenty, you are still nineteen,” he pointed out. “Aren’t you too young to do the whole dating thing?”

Gou tilted her head and looked at him with amusement in her eyes. “Aren’t you old enough to _do_ the whole dating thing?”

Rin frowned. “What do you mean?”

Gou just smiled at him. “I know you are set on an Olympic medal, Onii-chan,” she said as she stood up. “But sometimes I worry that you are so set on your professional life that you’re missing out on your personal one.”

Rin blinked up in confusion at her.

“Don’t worry,” she said then, her happy smile back on her lips. “You’re still young and I will be always here to cheer on you and your muscles!”

“Wha-?” Rin looked confused as Gou laughed. “You sure messed with me. What was all that deep, serious talk about?”

“It’s nothing,” Gou assured him, and grabbed Rin’s arm with her hands. “It’s probably just the late hour. We should really go to bed.”

Rin let his sister pull him up and, together, they climbed up the stairs to their bedrooms.

He walked into his room – his dad’s old bedroom, where he always slept. The room looked just like it always had: a futon already pulled out for him, an old wardrobe and a small table, with a few cushions stocked in the corner. He walked to the wardrobe—as a kid he had always thought it was huge, but now that he was older, it barely reached up to his shoulders.

On top of it there were a few photo frames on display. A few of them were of Rin’s grandparents and other older relatives he wasn’t sure he could recognize or name; another one was of Rin, Gou, and their father, outside in the garden: him and his sister were in a kiddie pool, their father crouching beside it, and all three wearing a matching grin as they looked at the camera.

Rin’s eyes moved to the last frame in the corner and his eyes widened. He wasn’t sure he had ever seen that photo before.

It was a photo of his parents when they were young, outside a front door Rin couldn’t recognize. However, that wasn’t what had called his attention. His eyes zoomed in on two particular things. The first one was his father’s face. Rin had always seen him with short hair but in that particular period, Toraichi’s hair was longer—just an inch shorter of how Rin always wore his—and from the looks of it, Toraichi should have been Rin’s exact age as well. Rin had never seen an image of his father resembling his own so much before.

The second thing was lower in the photo. Rin’s eyes followed Toraichi’s extended arm, all the way down to the hand that was protectively stroking the pregnant belly of Rin’s mother.

 

 


	2. Bondi Blue

Rin didn’t know when it had happened, but at some point during the past two and half years, the Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport had stopped looking… _foreign_. Sure, it wouldn’t feel like going back home to Japan - he knew it was ridiculous, but he always felt that slight difference in the oxygen he breathed once he took his first steps at Narita. But still, strolling through the Sydney Airport had become familiar to him; which hadn’t been a surprise considering he would fly back a few times a year between holidays, national qualifications and retreats with the team.

He lifted his duffel bag on top of his brand new trolley, hooked the strap over his wrist so it wouldn’t drop to the floor, and pulled everything behind him as he made his way towards the exit.

“Rin!” a familiar tall blonde figure waved at him, and Rin lifted his only free hand in a greeting.

“Hey Ben,” Rin returned the one-armed hug as best as he could with all the luggage on him. “Thanks for picking me up.”

“Not a problem,” Ben smiled, and gestured at Rin to pass him the duffel bag. “To the left,” he added as they walked out to the parking lot of the airport.

Rin had met Ben years ago, soon after his return to Australia. Rin remembered walking into his first class as an ACPE Sports Business freshman and being pleasantly surprised at seeing a face he had become familiar with at the training sessions with his new team. They had struck up a friendship right away and stuck together during both class and at training, albeit their regimes were different since Ben swam backstroke.

“So, what’s new?” Rin asked as he buckled his seat belt.

“Leah broke up with her boyfriend,” Ben said.

Rin sighed as he slipped on his sunglasses, shielding his eyes from the bright afternoon sun. “Again?”

“For good this time,” Ben explained. “Apparently he moved to Perth,” he said, and Rin chuckled at the grin that was escaping his friend’s lips. Ben had a massive crush on the girl, one that had lasted for a good part of two years now.

“Good, so he won’t be ruining our study group sessions again,” Rin commented. He never liked _Thomás,_ as he always introduced himself –always pointing out the right accent– and much less after he had crashed the study group at Rin’s place that one time, accusing Leah of cheating on him with _both_ Rin and Ben. Their argument had lasted almost two hours and it had been their third break-up, if Rin recalled correctly. In the end, the group had stayed awake until 4:12 in the morning, trying to finish their group project. Rin had vowed to never again leave a project unfinished until the very last day.

“How are the lovebirds?” Rin asked then, grinning teasingly. Lovebirds was the perfect way to put it, he thought. He’d never befriended a couple more in love than Tim and Rachel, who had been together since their third year in high school and counting. Rin couldn’t even lie, his romantic side felt almost jealous of their relationship.

“Still going strong,” Ben answered as he switched lanes. “They are already discussing life after graduation and are looking for a house.”

Rin frowned. There it was again, another one of his friends –or in this case, two–  setting up the road for their life after college.

“Do you think we’re wasting our time?” Rin suddenly asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I feel like everyone has already decided on their life post-degree, while I’ll just… continue with my life of training,” Rin explained, rolling the window down and leaning his elbow on the side of the car.

“Isn’t this what we signed up for?” Ben asked, as he stopped at a red light. “I mean, our lives right now are already different than the ones of our classmates. It is obvious it will keep being different afterwards, too. Tim and Rachel are making plans for their first house, I’m making my plans for training for the World Cup,” he explained with a shrug.

Rin remained silent. Ben was right; Rin had laid down his plans for his future years ago, deciding to put all of his focus into swimming and school. He had a social life, with a close group of friends, both in Sydney and in Japan. But he had never even attempted to go on a date; he knew it would have been pointless and complicated since…

“Hey,” Rin frowned as Ben switched the lane again. “You took the wrong turn, you were…”

Ben chuckled. “I’m not driving you home yet,” he said, laughing.

“Where are we going?” Rin asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

“Blackwattle Bay Park,” Ben offered as the only answer.

Realization dawned on Rin - he had landed on the last Saturday before the beginning of a new semester. “Seriously?” he asked. “I just flew in from Tokyo.”

“One more reason for you to look forward to a barbecue with your friends after a long flight with plane food.”

They arrived soon after, and joined Tim, Rachel and Leah at their usual barbecue place at the park. It was a tradition that started almost as a joke; they had been put together for a group project during their first semester and, being all students of Sports Business, they had started a study group. After finishing their first successful session of exams, they had organized a barbecue to celebrate. The same night they had decided to repeat it every last Saturday before a new semester started.

A pang of sadness ran through Rin, realizing that this was going to be their last one.

Ben and Rin arrived just as Tim was putting the first burgers on the hot grill and the greasy smell made Rin realize just how hungry he actually was.

He accepted his welcome back hug from Rachel with a big grin.

“I brought some extra kimchi made by my grandma,” she told him. “Extra spicy,” she added with a wink.

Rin’s grin grew some more at the mere idea of Mrs. Nam’s secret family recipe and he pushed his sunglasses onto the top of his head. “Can I take any leftovers?”

“Please do,” Tim piped in. “We have enough kimchi at home to last us a week,” he said, rearranging his hat over the mop of brown curls on his head.

Suddenly Rin felt two small hands sneaking around his torso just as a female chest got pressed against his back.

“Hi, Leah,” he said without the need to check, just placing a friendly pat on the hands against his chest.

“Hello, Sunny Boy,” Leah said back, and Rin sighed at the already familiar nickname.

During their very first handshake, the first words Leah had ever said to him had been “I know a Japanese girl whose name is Rin.” Rin’s mouth hand hung open in surprise before he had let out a sigh. At that moment, he had been afraid he would have to start his life at University with _that_ talk. After muttering back that yes, Rin was a girly name but he was a boy, coupled with his trademark neck scratch, Rin had been left in utter confusion by Leah’s reply. “I’m gonna call you Sunny Boy, then,” she had grinned at him. With a firm nod that had reminded Rin of Nagisa; Leah had confidently come to the conclusion that that was the perfect nickname for him, as Rin was from Japan, the land of the rising sun.

“How come Ben doesn’t have a nickname?” Rin suddenly asked. He turned around to get free of Leah’s grip and threw a side glance at his friend, who had seated himself at the nearby picnic table.

“Because I know two Rins, obviously,” Leah answered in a matter-of-fact manner. “But he is the only Ben in my life.”

“Oh, really?” Rin chuckled and looked again at Ben, who was now trying to hide the slight blush that was creeping up on his cheeks.

Yeah, he had missed his friends as well.

 

* * *

 

“Coming!” Rin shouted days later across his apartment, hoping that the incessant buzzing of the door would stop.

He didn’t even manage to completely open the door before a soft weight was pushed into his arms as a blonde figure rushed inside, yelling a “Take her, I need the bathroom!” behind her.

Rin blinked in confusion before his eyes locked with a familiar pair of blue eyes.

“Hi Sophie!” he grinned at the little girl that was now looking back at him.

Sophie squealed and patted him straight on the mouth. “Bee!”

Rin snorted, closing the front door with a gentle kick behind him.

“No, lets try again,” he said walking back to the joint living room and kitchen area. He sat down on the couch, Sophie facing him on his lap. “Say Rin.”

“Bee!”

“Rin!”

“Bee,” Sophie said with a giggle, slapping his face one more time.

Rin sighed in defeat. “I’m letting you go for now just because you’re barely one year old,” he said with a fake threatening voice, tickling her tummy and making her squeal.

Just then, the door of his bathroom opened and the blonde figure from before stepped out.

“Hi Jules,” Rin greeted, throwing a look over his shoulder.

“Hey,” she said, grabbing the baby bag she had dropped in front of the bathroom door and walked to sit near him. “How is my favorite pupil?” she smiled cheekily.

Rin snorted. “I was never your pupil.”

Rin had met Julie, or Jules as her friends called her, when he enrolled at the Australian College for Physical Education almost three years prior. She had been assigned as his mentor and the two of them quickly became friends. Back then she was already in her third year and had helped Rin more than once as he was studying for his bachelor degree.

“Fine, how is my favorite tenant?”

Just a few months before graduating, Julie found out she was pregnant so she moved in with her boyfriend, Mark, and offered Rin to stay in her apartment for a nice price – which he obviously accepted, since the flat was cheaper and closer to the school than the place he had stayed at during his first year.

“I’m okay,” he said, carefully plucking out a butterfly pin from Sophie’s hair and fixing it again. “Hey, drop that,” he suddenly admonishes Jules, noticing she was rummaging through a paper bag on the table.

“Why?” Jules asked innocently, already unwrapping a chocolate and popping it into her mouth.

Rin huffed and put Sophie down on the couch between him and Julie. “I have to ship these to Japan on Monday, it’s Nagisa’s birthday,” he explained, picking the bag and bringing it over to the kitchen counter,  away from Julie’s hands and her sweet tooth.

“Ooh,” she exclaimed. “Can I ship something for him, too? A koala hat, it’d go perfectly with the kangaroo one he got the last time!”

Rin raised an eyebrow and looked amused at her. “Remind me again how you two became friends?” he asked, dropping back down on the couch, making Sophie bounce on the cushion.

Rin knew the answer was pretty simple. In March of that year, both he and Haru had competed on their very first World Aquatic Championship in Melbourne. Rin’s mom, Gou and Haru’s parents all came down to Melbourne to watch them compete and so did Nagisa, Rei and Makoto. Rin had offered his friends to stay over at his place in Sydney for a few days, since they had never managed to come visit the city. So, while he and Haru were already in Melbourne training with the rest of the team, his friends were housesitting in Sydney. They carpooled down to Melbourne with Julie and Mark, quickly befriending them.

“Oh come on,” Julie snorted and playfully hit him on the chest. “Nagisa is an adorable bouncy ball of sunshine.”

Rin chuckled. “Which is why I’m glad I won’t be around when he will eat all the sweets.”

Jules swatted a hand at him but he was faster and ducked it. “What else is new in Japan?” she inquired.

“I had an interview for a post graduation job,” Rin said, scratching behind his neck. “It’s for a sportswear company. I got offered a part time office job in their marketing department and a sponsorship contract.”

Jules’ eyes widened for a brief second before her lips turned into a pout. “So you’ll really be leaving in December?” she asked, welcoming her daughter who was climbing in her lap.

“Probably by the end of November. I’ll just wait for the exam results,” Rin nodded. “Oh, don’t make that face,” he groaned noticing her fake trembling of lips. “I’ll come visit,” he said, poking Sophie’s tummy with a finger.

“Bee!” the little girl squealed.

Rin sighed. “Otherwise she will never stop calling me that,” he added, poking her one more time.

“But this means I will have to find a new tenant _and a new baby sitter_. Do you know how bothersome this will be?” Julie moaned.

Rin scoffed. “Not as much as having random people dropping by at your place,” he replied, opening his arms and wiggling his fingers at Sophie to make her crawl back to him.

“Hey, I’m still the owner of this place,” Jules warned him in an amused tone.

Rin chuckled and looked at the wall in the kitchen to check the time.

“Fuuuudge,” he stopped himself from cursing, remembering Sophie had just climbed in his lap. “Hey, did you drive here? Can you give me a ride to Lori and Russell’s?”

“Sure,” Jules shrugged. “We were supposed to leave now anyway, what do you need there?”

Rin handed over Sophie before sitting up and walking to his bedroom.

“They flew to Cairns for the weekend to visit Russell’s parents,” he explained as he picked the overnight bag he had packed earlier. On his way back he grabbed his backpack with books and his laptop. “I’m housesitting.”

 

* * *

 

Rin put down the last plate to drain before making sure he had washed all of the dishes he had used for dinner. He walked to the fridge and took out a bottle of water before making his way back to the dining table, Winnie tailing along behind him. Only when Rin sat down at the chair, he noticed that the dog was looking up at him with a ball in her mouth.“Not tonight, Winnie,” he said, patting her head. “I have to study, we’ll go to the park tomorrow.”

Winnie whined for a second before letting the ball drop out of her mouth and settling down near Rin’s feet.

Rin smiled down at the pet before brushing his fingers over the touchpad on his laptop, bringing the screen back to life. There was no new email in his inbox and all of his contacts on Skype were either offline or idle. Changing his own to ‘Do not disturb’, he picked up the stack of papers and a notebook from the side,  to resume the work he had been doing before dinner. He still had months until the due date of his project, but he always tried to keep up with his schoolwork, and when all of the data you have is in Japanese and needs to be translated, he knew he didn’t really have time to waste.

Rin had been scribbling down notes into the notebook and underlining numbers on the papers for almost an hour when the doorbell startled him. He got up, nudging Winnie away from his feet, and walked to the door with the dog following him with a bark.

“Yeah, who is it?” he asked as he pulled open the door and found himself blinking at a familiar face in front of him.

“Huh, hey Rinnie. You’re here, too?” The person said and it took less than a second for Rin to connect the face with the ridiculous nickname that has been applied to him during his first staying in Australia.

Rin hadn’t seen Robbie, a nephew of Lori and Russell, in a couple of years. The two of them had met back when Rin first transferred to Australia to attend middle school. During the first break from school back then, Lori and Russell had taken him on a trip to Melbourne to meet with Lori’s sister and her family. There they had rented two campers and had gone on a long road trip to visit Uluru; Rin, Lori and Russell in one camper, Lori’s sister, her husband and their son, Robbie, in the second one. Robbie was a few years older than Rin himself and at first hadn't been crazy about the trip, but eventually he stopped pouting and befriended Rin. The two of them would pass the time playing videogames and exploring the surroundings during the stop breaks.

Now that Rin thought about it, Robbie might have been the closest thing to a friend he had had in Australia the first time around. Maybe because they’d always meet  during holidays, when Rin’s mind could be taken off swimming and his bad times.

“Hey Robbie,” Rin greeted him cheerfully and he let himself be grabbed in a one armed hug. “What are you doing in Sydney?” he asked, taking a step back and motioning for the other boy to step in.

“I actually moved here for work, have just finished settling in,” Robbie said, lifting with an arm what Rin recognized as Russell’s tool box. “Russell lent me this and I came to bring it back. Where is he and Auntie?” he eventually asked, looking around and seeing only Winnie who was nuzzling her snout against his shin. “Hi girl,” he gave her a pat on her head.

“Ahh, you missed them,” Rin closed the front door and walked back to the living space. “They are visiting Russell’s family in the North. I’m looking after the house for the weekend.”

“Damn it, I thought they were going next week,” Robbie said, scratching behind his neck. “I’m gonna drop the tools in the garage and be out of your way, then. But we should stay in touch because I haven’t seen you in years. Let’s grab a drink sometimes.”

“Well, you can stay now if you want,” Rin said without really thinking.

“You sure?” Robbie asked uncertain and he glanced at the table. “You seem busy.”

“Yeah,” Rin shrugged. “I’m done with studying for the night, anyway.”

“Ok then, be right back,” Robbie grinned before walking to the door connecting the main house with the garage.

Rin walked back to the dining table, he turned off the laptop and put it back in its bag before moving to his notebook and papers.

“What were you studying anyway?” Robbie asked peeking at one of the papers once he came back. “Economics?” he questioned noticing a paper with graphs on it.

“Yeah, it’s for my project,” Rin explained.

“Oh, right, Lori mentioned you were on your third year. What is it about?”

Rin coughed and deepened his voice, using the same serious tone he had to use when he had presented it to the Japan Swimming Federation to ask them for the data resource. “Resource analysis and planning: the financial side of swimming. Basically an analysis of the financial budgets the swimming federation in Japan had in the past five years. It is for a sport business project.”

Robbie smirked. “Seems right up your alley. I remember you always liked math.”

“Yeah,” Rin smiled back. When he had moved to Sydney as a kid, math had quickly became his favorite subject – you didn’t need to translate numbers and it was the only subject that seemed the same either in Japan or Australia. “But all the data is in Japanese and needs to be translated, which isn’t something I considered when I picked the title.”

“Well, let me know if you need help with the language, I can help.” Robbie suddenly offered.

“Really?” Rin quirked an eyebrow confused as he put the last papers in a folder.

“Obviously, I don’t speak Japanese,” Robbie was quick to explain. “But I work in marketing, so I can read it and let you know if anything doesn’t seem to make sense or it got lost in translation. Would you like that?”

“Sure,” Rin smiled.

“Great,” Robbie grinned back. “Now grab a beer and let’s go out,” he said pointing to a box of Belgian beer on the table before walking to the glass doors that lead outside to the backyard.

“Where did you even get that?” Rin asked as he looked at one of the green bottles and followed Robbie out.

“I bought some as a thanks for Russell, but since he isn’t here, I guess we can have a toast.” Robbie suddenly stopped. “Wait, you’re a pro now, is it okay for you to drink beer?”

Rin snorted. “If Phelps can win Olympic gold after being stopped for drinking and driving, I don’t think a beer will harm me. Also, I don’t have any competition until April.” Rin explained as he twisted the cap and opened the bottle. He sat down on a lounge chair and took a swig out of the bottle. He wasn’t a big fan of alcoholic drinks but the bitter taste of a beer was way better than whatever fruity and sweet concoction Nagisa always tried to pass to him.

“Speaking of competitions,” Robbie suddenly seemed to remember something. “I didn’t manage to come see you, but I saw your race in Melbourne on tv. Damn Americans,” he said.

“I thought you were dating an American,” Rin joked, deciding to keep the discussion away from his fourth place. Not that he had expected to win – his times were slower than those of his competitors even before the race, but he’d have lied if he hadn’t at least hoped for a spot on the podium. At the end, neither he nor Haru had returned home with any medal.

Robbie’s eyes grew bigger for a second before he looked away. “I broke up with him and moved to Sydney. So,” he said quickly before stopping to take a sip out of his bottle. “You have any boyfriends back in Japan?”

Rin eyes widened in shock. His sexuality had always been… a taboo topic. Not that he refused to admit he liked men; Rin had made peace and been okay with this part of himself for a while, but… only one person knew about this. And even then, Rin had told Julie because she was adamant of setting him up with a friend of hers. The steaks were just too high for Rin to risk someone from the federation finding out and him being kicked out of the team. Rin felt a shiver of fear run down his spine, despite knowing that no one could have really heard them.

“How do you know I…” he barely whispered.

“Hey, hey,” Robbie frowned at the sight of Rin’s pale face. “Take a deep breath and calm down. You don’t have it written on your forehead or anything,” he gave Rin a reassuring smile.

“But…” Rin stuttered. “How did you know?”

“Rin,” Robbie said with a calm voice. “It's seriously nothing obvious and I’m pretty sure only I know about it.”

“But _how_?” Rin demanded nervously.

Robbie’s eyes softened and a chuckle escaped his lips. “Remember when you, Lori and Russell came to stay at our house while we went on a trip to New Zealand? I think you were around fifteen? You’re three years younger than me, right?”

“Yeah,” Rin nodded with a curt move of his head. “I’m twenty.”

Robbie put the bottle of beer on the small table and leaned forward, his elbows leaning on his knees. “You slept in my room.”

“And?” Rin asked confused. What had that trip had to do with Robbie knowing Rin was gay?

“I’m very meticulous about my magazines, including the gay porn ones. And none of those were in the order I had left them, _Rinnie_ ,” Robbie explained with a wink.

Rin’s skin suddenly felt boiling and he had to wonder if it perhaps was the beer.

“Shit,” he cursed and leaned back on the chair, the hand not handling the bottle pressed against his chest and feeling his heartbeat race. “I went from being scared shitless to mortified,” he admitted with a snort, lifting his hand and hiding his face behind it.

Robbie chuckled. “As I said, it’s nothing that obvious. And don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I know that competitive sports is not the best place to come out.”

“Thanks,” Rin sighed and smiled at Robbie. He took a big gulp of the beer, trying to clear his head when his cellphone started vibrating in his pocket. He fished it out and looked at the caller.

“Give me a minute, I need to take that,” he told Robbie, seeing his sister’s name on the screen.

“Hello, Gou?” he replied, switching swiftly to Japanese, with a slight tone of worry in his voice. It was rare for Gou to call him on the phone instead of trying Skype.

“Onii-chan, how are you?” Gou asked cheerfully, her happy voice calming Rin’s worrisome instincts.

“I’m okay, what’s up?” he asked, crossing his feet on the lounge chair.

“I got a phonecall from the federation, they found the lost suitcase. I already asked Haruka-senpai to go pick it up and he said he can mail the contents to you if there’s anything you need from it.”

“Oh, that’s great. Can you write down and let him know what I need?” he asked, trying to remember what he had put in the lost suitcase.

“Just a second, let me grab a pen… Okay, tell me.”

“Tell Haru to ship me all the swimsuits – I’ve been stuck using only two for the past few weeks.” Rin said. “The national track suit as well, in case something will come up and I’ll have to wear it for some interview although I have never been asked to do it in Australia,” he added in an afterthought.

“The suit as well?”

“Nah, I have one here. But ask Haru if he can hang it in his closet so it doesn’t get too wrinkled,” Rin suggested, picking at a loose thread on his t-shirt and pulling at it.

“Got it. Anything else?”

“Hmm,” Rin tried to remember what else has he put in the lost-now-found suitcase. “Just tell him to send any other training gear he can see. For everything else, I should be set.”

“Swimsuits, national tracksuit and training gear, that’s all?”

“Yes,” Rin nodded even if his sister couldn’t see him.

“Okay, I will call Haruka-senpai and let him know.”

“Great, I’ll shoot him a thank you email later then. Is everything all right over there?” he asked. He knew he should have kept the phonecall short but talking with his sister has always been nice.

“Yes, Sousuke and I went to the onsen the past weekend and…”

“Gou, spare me the details,” he interrupted. “I don’t think I’m ready yet to listen to the love escapades of my little sister with my best friend.”

“Onii-chan! It wasn’t a love escapade!”

“Did he got lost?”

“No, I was the one giving the directions.”

“Good, tell him hi and say hello to mom as well.”

“You know you could call her too, right?”

“I know, I know,” Rin laughed. “I promise, I’ll call her tomorrow. Good night, Gou.”

“Good night, Onii-chan.”

“Sorry for that,” Rin said to Robbie, putting his cellphone down on the lounge table.

“News from Japan?”

“Yeah, my sister had to ask me about something.” Rin felts something against the fingertips of his hand and he looked down to see Winnie had just walked outside to join them.

“Hey Winnie,” he said cheerfully, patting his thighs. “Come up here, girl.” He didn’t even manage to finish the sentence before the dog had already jumped and settled down on his lap. Rin smiled and he started stroking her dark fur down her spine and onto the belly.

“I’ll be right back,” Robbie suddenly said and stood up, making his way back inside.

“’kay,” Rin said as a yawn escaped his lips. “Are you sleepy too, girl?” he asked, noticing Winnie had hid her nuzzle in the crook of his arm.

“Rin… Rin… Rin, wake up!”

Rin opened his eyes startled and looked around confused. “Wha-?”

“I can’t believe I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without having you drop asleep.” Robbie chuckled from where he had crouched down near Rin’s lounge chair.

“Sorry,” Rin said, scratching his hair. “We had an extra session of training this morning and I’ve been up since six am.”

“No surprise you fell asleep then.” Robbie commented. “Well, it’s getting late so I’ll go too,” he added as he stroked Winnie’s head.

“Okay,” Rin nodded and pushed the dog off his lap. “I’ll walk you out.”

Rin pocketed his phone and picked the two now empty bottles of beer before making his way inside.

“Hey, I put my number in your phone,” Robbie suddenly said. “Give me a call once you finish the outline for your project and I’ll give it a check, okay?”

Rin nodded. “Will do, thanks again.”

“You’re welcome.” Robbie flashed him a smile and patted his shoulder. “I don’t really know that many people in Sydney yet so my weekends are kind of boring, anyway.”

“Why does that sound like an offense?” Rin muttered with a frown.

“It’s not,” Robbie chuckled and opened the door. “Night Rin!” he said before making his way to his car parked in front of the garage. “Take care of the house or Auntie will kick your butt!”

“She won’t,” Rin said back with a snort. “’Night Robbie.”

He gave one last wave before locking the door and looking down at Winnie.

“So, wanna sleep on my bed tonight?” he grinned at the dog, and received a loud woof in response.

Rin made sure all the doors were locked and the lights were off before retrieving his cellphone from the pocket of his pants. He pulled up his email app, quickly typing a new message.

 

To: nanase_h@gmail.com

_Got a call from Gou, thanks for sending my stuff._  
_I owe you one.  
_ _G’night_

He changed into a fresh pair of sweats and a new tank top as Winnie settled down on the foot of his bed. When he came back he picked again his phone to set the alarm. A new email was waiting for him. 

From: nanase_h@gmail.com

_You can pay me back in mascots.  
_ _Goodnight Rin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I am not dead, no this fic is not abandoned and no, it won't take me over a year to update the next chapter. Trust me on that one.  
> So, with this chapter we move the story to Australia, where the fic will be centred for the next 5 or 6 chapters... We met a bunch of Rin friends and honestly, I was terrified while writing this whole chapter because I'm not really good with original characters but hopefully they are okay. And I know what are you all wondering, the answering is yes... Sophie will be back!  
> As always, many thanks to Lin, Hina and Claudia.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr [here](http://gettinglostinneverland.tumblr.com).


	3. Turquoise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some info about the past, some about the present... and try finding the foreshadows :)

Rin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before rereading the line in the book in front of him. No matter how many times he did it, his brain simply refused to accept any more information about researching methods. The buzz created by the evening crowd of the small coffee shop wasn’t helping either.  
  
“Seems like you need a refill.”  
  
Rin looked away from his book, pausing to eye the styrofoam cup that had suddenly appeared on his left before meeting Rachel’s amused gaze.  
  
“Seems like I need my days to be 30 hours long, at least,” he said, closing the book and putting it aside. He lifted the lid and took a peek inside the cup.  
  
“Just coffee and milk,” Rachel prompted as she took a seat on the chair Rin had just pushed with his foot, inviting her to join him.  
  
Rin smiled. “My favorite, thanks,” he said, putting the lid back on and taking a sip.  
  
“More like the only kind I ever see you order,” Rachel commented. She tilted her head to look at the book Rin was reading. “Ugh, methods,” she grimaced. “No wonder you needed more coffee, that book is a snooze fest.”  
  
“I’m counting the days until the exam so I can burn it,” Rin muttered as he took another sip. The caffeine was slowly kicking in and making him more focused… either that or he was just glad to have an excuse to stop studying.  
  
“Just tell me the time and place, I’ll bring the matches,” Rachel smirked. “So, how was your weekend?”  
  
“Busy,” Rin smiled. “I went to see the cherry blossoms at the Auburn gardens with the Sunday school’s kids.”  
  
Rachel looked surprised. “I thought you said you wouldn’t have the time to work there this term?”  
  
“Yeah,” Rin nodded. “I stopped going there in May but the boss called me saying the kids wanted me to come one more time. Turns out they threw me a farewell picnic,” he said with a smile, thinking about the folder of messages and drawings that were left on his kitchen table.  
  
“Awwww, they love their Rin-sensei,” Rachel mused. “I bet it was cool though, eating and playing under the trees in bloom.”  
  
“It was, until some of the boys tried to jump in one of the ponds to take a swim among the petals,” Rin snorted at the memory of him having to grab two of the kids around their waists to keep them away from the water.  
  
Rachel laughed and put her own cup on the table. “Well, I can see the appeal of swimming in a pond full of cherry blossoms.”  
  
“It loses the appeal once you decide to race and end up choking on the petals,” Rin said with a grin making Rachel look at him in confusion.  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“I never told you about the sakura pool?” Rin asked surprised.  
  
“What sakura pool?” Rachel wondered.  
  
Rin chuckled. It was hard to believe there actually were friends of his that haven’t heard about the story.  
  
“So,” Rin started. “During my last year of high school, Haru, you know, my friend from Japan?”  
  
Rachel nodded. “The one who swims with you.”  
  
“Exactly. He told me to come in the afternoon to the pool at their school, which he and the others had filled with cherry blossoms.”  
  
Rachel took a slow sip out of her cup. “Where did they even get the idea of filling a pool with them?”  
  
Rin pursed his lips amused and scratched behind his neck. “I might have made an offhand comment about how I wanted to swim in one.”  
  
“What?” Rachel asked, a laugh escaping her lips.  
  
“Oi, don’t laugh,” Rin muttered in defense. “I was eleven.”  
  
“And they remembered? That’s so cute,” she said with a smile. “So that’s when you got to swim in one?”  
  
“Not exactly,” Rin said. “It was an outside pool and it started raining before we could even change into our swimsuits.”  
  
Rachel tilted her head to the side, her eyebrows curled in a frown on her forehead.  
  
“What?” Rin asked unsure.  
  
“Let me get this straight,” Rachel said before taking a sip of her drink. “It started raining so you didn’t go swim? Were you afraid of getting wet?” **  
**  
Rin sighed and rolled his eyes to the dark beige ceiling of the shop. “No, but it was April and I didn’t want to risk getting pneumonia at the start of the competition season. Anyway, a year later, after we graduated, I called them to the pool at my high school and returned the favor. That’s when I got to swim in a pool full of cherry blossoms,” he finished with a grin. “I would probably have made it a tradition if cleaning it up afterwards hadn’t been a complete pain in the ass.”  
  
“I can imagine,” Rachel laughed. Her phone suddenly buzzed on the table. “Just a second,” she said as she unlocked the phone to read the message. Her eyes darted across the screen before her lips stretched into a grin.  
  
“Good news?” Rin asked amused.  
  
Rachel nodded and pocketed her phone. “I think we have a house,” she said bouncing in her seat. “We saw this place last week, pretty cheap. So Tim asked his dad to come check it again with him to give an opinion on it. He said the house looks pretty good and only the bathroom and the patio need some work.”  
  
Rin grinned at her friend’s happiness. “That’s great news, so you will move before graduating?”  
  
“Naah,” Rachel shook her head. “The house barely has any furniture and our lease doesn’t end until the new year.” She chewed on her lip thoughtfully. “I guess I need to start a list of all the stuff we will need to buy, otherwise we will end up moving into a house without any fork to eat with,” she chuckled. “Have you already found a place for when you’ll be back in Japan?” she suddenly asked.  
  
“Huh?” Rin’s eyebrows arched up at the random change of topic. “Ah,” he leaned against the back of the chair. “The work place said they will find me a flat that is close enough to the office and the pool; it will be already furnished so I can move in right away when I’m done here.”  
  
“Will it even feel like a home?” Rachel wondered with a mix of concern and curiosity in her voice. “I’d feel like I’m living in a stranger’s house.”  
  
“I don’t think so? I feel like it makes everything simpler.” Rin shrugged his shoulders. “But I’m used to it, I haven’t lived at home for the past…” he stopped to make some mental calculation. “Eight years? My high school was a boarding school,” he added in explanation.  
  
“Well,” Rachel said, intertwining her fingers on the table. “One day you will find someone with whom you will want to live together and you will long to move into your own place that you will decorate just like you want and not how some stranger copied from a furniture magazine.”  
  
Rin’s lips curled up on one side as a pang of unease shot through his chest.  
  
“The key word is ‘one day’,” he simply answered as he wondered if he would ever see that day come.

 

* * *

  
“Your daughter is strong.” Rin pointed out, looking at Sophie’s tight grasp on the top parallel bar of the gymnastic ladder that had been installed in the living room back when Julie was still living there. When Rin had moved in, he had invested in a small bench, making himself his own gym corner at home for his evening exercises. “Aren’t you, Soph’?” he asked amused, looking up at the girl.  
  
“Bee!” Sophie blurted back and let go of the bar, dropping her whole, light weight back onto Rin’s arms. Rin put her down on the blanket that had been spread out on the floor and left her to play with a toy before walking to the bathroom to peek inside.  
  
“You done?” he asked just as Julie was snapping a photo of the bathtub/shower cabin.  
  
“I think I got them all, yes,” Julie checked the display and looked through the photos of the apartment she had snapped in the past fifteen minutes to add them to the ad she would put out for a new tenant. “I can always come back to snap more,” she said before her eyes turned to him in amusement. “Maybe, I should come while you are sleeping, taking a pic of you half naked in bed and saying you come with the price,” her eyebrows wiggled with tease.  
  
“Very funny,” Rin glared at her as she ignored him and went back to the living room, checking on Sophie.  
  
He was about to follow her when the buzz of the intercom stopped him.  
  
“Yes, who is it?” he asked into the receiver.  
  
“It’s me, Robbie,” a voice replied. “Anyone called for a tutor?”  
  
Rin laughed and pressed the button to open the front door. “Come in, 4th floor.”  
  
“Hey, a delivery guy just came with a package for you, want me to sign it?”  
  
Rin frowned for a second before he remembered. “It must be the package from Haru, sure sign it for me, please.”  
  
“Who was that?” Julie asked.  
  
“Lori’s nephew, he’s helping me with the PBL,” Rin explained as he unlocked the door and opened them. He looked out just in time to see the elevator doors slide open.  
  
“Hi…  you can give me that,” he said in a greeting and took the package from Robbie’s arms, inviting him inside the apartment.  
  
“Hey Rin… wow, nice place.” Robbie said while looking around.  
  
“Thank you, it’s mine!” Julie chirped and stood up before walking to them. “I’m Julie, nice to meet you.”  
  
“Hi, Robbie.” They shook hands before Robbie noticed another person in the room. “Hello there,” he said, kneeling down in front of the blanket. “Are you Rinnie’s girlfriend?” he asked amused at Sophie who just looked at the new person with wide eyes.  
  
“Rinnie?” Julie looked at Rin surprised.  
  
“Don’t…” Rin warned her but it was too late.  
  
“I’m so calling you that from now on,” she said, mischief glistening in her eyes.  
  
Rin sighed, knowing perfectly fine that telling her no would be pointless – in that aspect, Julie wasn’t really that different from Nagisa.  
  
He walked to the kitchen counter and ripped the tape on the top of the box before bringing it to the dining table and opening it. It wasn’t too heavy considering the size.  
  
The first thing he saw was something he wasn’t expecting – a photo album with a piece of paper on top. He flipped it open and recognized his sister ‘s handwriting.  
  
_‘Onii-chan,  
I asked Haruka-senpai if he could ship  
this photo album as well. There are  
photos from Melbourne and from this  
summer. I also added some of those I  
found on your camera from the national  
retreat.  
Please show them to Julie-san as well  
And tell her to let me know if she wants  
any copies.  
  
Gou’_  
  
“Oi, Jules,” Rin called. “Pics from Gou,” he told her, knowing perfectly well his friend would look through all of them, just like she had done with all the previous photo albums Gou had sent him in the past three years.  
  
Julie took it from his hands. “Are there those from Melbourne?” she asked, flipping over the first page.  
  
“Yeah, Gou said to let her know if you want any,” Rin repeated what his sister wrote in the letter.  
  
Robbie looked curiously between them. “Can I look at them, too? At least I will get an idea of who aunt Lori is always talking about.” **  
**  
“No problem,” Rin shrugged and let his friends look through the photos as he continued emptying the box, checking whether Haru had put inside a message as well.  
  
Just under the photo album there was his national jacket and Rin grinned at the sight. He tore through the plastic Haru had wrapped it in and quickly put it on. He knew it was silly but wearing that jacket made him feel good, a proof that his hard work was slowly paying off.  He smelled the collar, noticing the strong scent of detergent – Haru must have washed it again before shipping it. He continued emptying the box, taking out all of the clothing items, each one carefully shipped in plastic wrap.  
  
“Tsk, that Haru…” he muttered to himself, tearing through one more bag and realizing his friend had washed every item as well.  
  
“Oooh, these are the photos from the competition,” Julie suddenly exclaimed from the couch. She and Robbie were apparently immersed in the album.  
  
“Is this Rin with his mom?” Robbie asked. “Rin, you and your sister look just like her.”  
  
“Awww, look at you Rin, all proud in the middle of the national team,” Julie teased.  
  
“Hey, who’s the hottie?” Robbie suddenly asked.  
  
Rin looked up from the swimsuit he was taking out of a bag. “Who, Haru?”  
  
“No, he is talking about Rei,” Julie said from the couch. “We reached the party photos?”  
  
“Oh.” Rin nodded as he opened the last wrap. He wondered what could have been inside; the training clothes and swimsuits were already out of the box. He flipped the bag around, his eyes widening at the realization.  
  
“What the fuck,” Rin exclaimed.  
  
“Don’t swear in front of a baby,” Julie admonished him. “What’s going on?” she asked turning her head.  
  
“Nothing,” Rin muttered. “Gotta call Haru now, the idiot shipped my underwear and even washed it.”  
  
He walked out to the balcony and slid the door closed behind him, pulling his cellphone out of his pocket. He knew that calling Haru at that time of the day wasn’t the cheapest of options, but to hell with it.  
  
“Hello?” Haru picked up surprisingly fast and Rin could hear the noise of the city in the background, his friend must have been outside.  
  
“Haru! I said to ship just the swimsuits and training gear,” Rin hissed, not even bothering with the politeness of a greeting.  
  
“I did,” Haru’s voice was unnervingly calm over the line.  
  
“You also shipped my underwear! And you washed it???” Rin continued, slowly realizing that he might have been overreacting. But who the hell washes their friend’s underwear, for fuck’s sake!  
  
Haru remained silent for a second and Rin had to wonder if maybe he had offended him. “You don’t like the detergent smell? It’s sakura!”  
  
Rin pulled the phone from his ear and looked at it puzzled, as if he could look at Haru’s face through it.  
  
“Tell me you didn’t buy it just for washing my boxers with it,” he asked mortified.  
  
“Of course not,” Haru replied right away. “I’ve been using it for a while, it’s always on sale so I make stock of it.”  
  
Rin sighed. “It’s embarrassing knowing your friend washed your underwear,” he pointed out.  
  
“But it wasn’t dirty. I just washed it because it was locked in a suitcase for weeks,” Haru explained and Rin’s shoulders slouched in defeat. No matter what, Haru just wouldn’t understand the issue.  
  
“Whatever,” Rin sighed again, set on dismissing the whole ordeal and erasing the notion that Haru had handled his underwear from his memory. “Anyway, thanks for sending the stuff,” he said, bringing the collar of the training jacket to his nose – indeed, it smelt like sakura.  
  
“Not a problem,” Haru said softly and Rin imagined if Haru was showing the little smile he usually displayed with that tune of the voice. “I’m at the train station, I have to go meet Makoto now,” he said suddenly.  
  
“You two are going out for dinner?” Rin asked. “Tell him hi.”  
  
“I will. But no, he invited me to a goukon. Bye, Rin.”  
  
“Rin’s eyes widened. “Wait, wha-?” he wanted to ask for more information but the line had already gone dead and he was left looking bewildered at the screen, as if it could tell him anything other than the time and duration of the call. Since when was Haru going on group dates? Hell, since when was Haru interested in dating at all?  
  
He stepped back inside the living room, still in shock.  
  
“Everything okay?” Jules asked him in worry, noticing his expression.  
  
“Haru is going on a group date,” he said slowly, frowning at the phone in his hand as if Haru’s voice would suddenly buzz out of it saying it was just a joke.  
  
“Wait,” Robbie piped in, his voice and expression both confused. “Isn’t he your boyfriend?”  
  
“Eeeeh?” Rin exclaimed, cheeks burning red as Julie just started laughing. Sophie looked at her mom with wide eyes before deciding to join in, gurgling fits of giggles herself.  
  
“What?” Robbie echoed confused. “You’re not dating? I thought you were from the way Auntie talks about you two.”  
  
“We’re not dating.” Rin said perplexed, why would people even think that? They were teammates. He could never date another swimmer.  
  
“But Haru is Rin’s favorite swimmer,” Julie chimed in between the giggles.  
  
“He’s not.” Rin objected, his ears feeling hot.  
  
Julie looked at him with amusement in her eyes. “You told me you transferred schools to swim with him.”  
  
“I was twelve!” Rin blurted out before storming to the kitchen and grabbing his clothes and taking them into his bedroom, and hiding the deep blush on his cheeks away from his friends.

 

* * *

  
Hours later, after Julie and Sophie had left and Robbie had finished giving Rin his comments and suggestions about the outline for his project, the two boys found themselves sitting on the couch again, the television turned on and making background noise with a rerun of some game show.  
  
“You okay?” Robbie suddenly asked.  
  
Rin looked up from the ice cubes melting on the bottom of the empty glass in his hand. “Yeah, why?”  
  
“You’ve seemed absent-minded today,” Robbie observed.  
  
“It’s nothing,” Rin shrugged. “I think I’m still shocked by Haru dating.”  
  
“Jealous?” Robbie asked with a smile.  
  
“No!” Rin said in defense. “Is just that… it made me think? A few weeks ago I even talked about it with Ben, a friend of mine,” he explained. “He is also a swimmer and we were actually talking about how while we live our lives around trainings and competitions, our friends are settling down.” Rin stopped and tipped the glass up, an ice cube sliding down into his mouth. “And Haru is also a swimmer, you know?” He continued, the ice crunching beneath his teeth. “And he has never, never, shown any interest in a girl so hearing he is going to a group date is just…. Unexpected.” He finished with a sigh.  
  
“So, you are envious,” Robbie said, lifting his hand to stop the objection that was about to slip out of Rin’s lips. “That your friend, who seems to be in a position similar to yours, can date.”  
  
Rin’s shoulders dropped. “I guess…” he muttered before popping the other ice cube in his mouth and crunching it as well. “When my dad was my age, he had already started a family, and my little sister has a serious boyfriend. Meanwhile I’ve never even dated,” he continued as he put his glass back on the table. “And since I’m moving back to Japan in a few months, I don’t even know when I’ll be able to do it.” Rin stopped to bite on his lower lip nervously. “It’s like for the first time in my life, I want something and I have no idea how to get it.”  
  
“Want to go on a date with me?” Robbie suddenly asked.  
  
Rin’s head snapped to look at Robbie, lips parted in shock. “What?”  
  
“I’m serious.” Robbie assured with a nod. “If you want to go on a date, I would gladly take you on one.”  
  
Rin gulped. The discussion had taken a turn he didn’t expected. “I’m leaving in a few months,” he tried to object because going on a date with Robbie would just feel weird, wouldn’t it?  
  
“And I still have feelings for my ex,” Robbie admitted. “I’m not saying you should fall in love with me and move permanently to Australia. But I like you, so I’m asking again – do you want go out with me?”

 

* * *

  
“And???”  
  
Rin shushed Jules and waved a hand at her, motioning for her to keep her voice down.  
  
“Could you be any louder? My mom probably heard you in Japan.” Rin muttered and wiped at his forehead with the sweatband on his wrist. They had just finished their weekly jogging around the park near Rin’s place and had sat down on a bench, Rin with a bottle of energy drink and Julie with a fruit juice from the kiosk nearby. **  
**  
“Oh shut up,” Julie rebutted. “What did you answer?” she bent her knee on the bench and slid closer to him.  
  
“I said I’d think about it,” Rin answered, pulling at the corner of the bottle label.  
  
“And?” Julie inquired.  
  
Rin exhaled and looked up at the sky, nervously scratching behind his neck. “I don’t know.”  
  
Julie sighed. “You don’t know what?” she asked with a softer tone of her voice.  
  
“What to answer. I know that in my perfect fantastic world I would date someone I actually love, but how am I even supposed to develop feelings for someone without…” he stopped for a second to take a sip of his drink. ”Without getting to know them first or going to dates?” His shoulders dropped.  There was another matter on his mind. “Also…”  
  
“Also?” Julie’s eyebrows were arched with curiosity, her fingers playing with the tap of her bottle.  
  
“I might have had a crush on him once?” Rin said, knowing he was making it sound more like a question rather than a statement.  
  
Julie leaned over him and threw the now empty bottle in the trash bin near the bench. When she moved back, she bent her arm on the back of the bench, supporting her head on her hand and looking at him with a motherly expression.  
  
“Okay, now you have to tell me everything because this sounds like a rom-com movie. When did this crush happen?” she asked.  
  
“I’m not even sure if it was a crush,” Rin huffed out and threw his head back. “But when I was fifteen, almost sixteen, I think,” he said, the memory fuzzy for him as well. “I just remember that I was in a bad place, my times were just not going anywhere where I wanted them to. Lori and Russell would often take me to on random trips, probably to cheer me up,” he added in an afterthought, remembering the confession his host parents made when he visited with Haru years prior. “Anyway, one time we went to this trip and Robbie was there and… I don’t even know,” he said, frowning at his own words. “But we would spend time together, and I just… I remember having fun and liking him because…” Rin stopped and pressed his lips together, trying to think of the right words to use. He was struggling figuring it out himself, and it wasn’t even a language barrier because he was pretty sure he’d be failing at explaining it in Japanese as well. “I guess because for him I was just Rin and not the wannabe pro swimmer with shitty times?” he eventually said.  
  
“Rin,” Julie squeezed his shoulder. “None of your friends thought of you like that.”  
  
Rin snorted. “You didn’t know me back then, Jules.” Rin turned to trash his own bottle. “I had a pretty big mouth when I was a kid.”  
  
“Rin, …” Julie sighed and her shoulders dropped a little. She was about to continue but got interrupted by Rin’s cellphone loudly buzzing between them.  
  
“Hold a sec,” Rin said, picking up his phone and checking the new email he had just received.  
  
**From:** nanase_h@gmail.com  
_‘Can you come on Skype? It’s urgent.’_  
  
Rin frowned at the urgency of the message and stood up.  
  
“Is something wrong?” Julie asked, looking at his worried expression.  
  
“I don’t know but Haru wants me urgently on Skype…” Rin explained. “I have to go, I’ll call you, ok?” He said quickly standing up and breaking into a run without even catching Julie’s reply.  
  
Rin jogged to his place, writing back a quick ‘coming in a minute’ as he waited for the elevator. He didn’t even take off his running shoes before turning on the laptop and clicking on the Skype icon as soon as his desktop visualized.  His feet were bouncing nervously as he started a call with Haru, making sure the volume was turned on.  
  
“Haru? What happened?” he asked as soon as Haru’s face appeared on his screen. His expression didn’t show any particular emotion of distress.  
  
“Rin,” he said with his usual calm voice. “I need you to buy me some books.”  
  
“Ahn?” Rin asked confused, his shoulders slumping a bit. “This was the emergency??” he exclaimed.  
  
“It’s for my final project,” Haru explained in the same tune he usually reserved for when he was trying to point out that yes, he really did need another pair of socks featuring a weird creature he loved.  
  
“Fine,” Rin sighed, grabbing a pen and the block notes he always kept on the dining table – since it also worked as his study desk.  “What do you need?”  
  
“Photo books about the Australian fauna. Especially water animals.”  
  
Rin looked up from the paper to the screen. “What kind of project are you making?” he suddenly asked perplexed, wondering what Australian fauna had to do with Haru’s degree in graphic design.  
  
“I’m making a video game prototype, inspired by the animals in Australia.” Haru said, his eyes widening a bit and showing a glimmer of light.  “I thought about it when we visited the aquarium in Melbourne.”  
  
Rin felt a fictitious light bulb above his head turning on. “Ohh,” he nodded knowingly. “You mean that sea dragon thing?” he asked, recalling the weird animal Haru had fascinatedly observed  for a good fifteen minutes, and would have probably continued if Rin hadn’t physically dragged him away to see the rest of the aquarium.  
  
He saw Haru nodding on the screen.  
  
“Gotcha,” Rin scribbled down ‘weird animals of Australia for Haru’ on a piece of paper. “I’ll check if I can find any at the library near my school, if not I will go search it in the weekend, okay?”  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
“But next time avoid using the word urgency unless someone’s health is at risk,” Rin said, clicking the top of the pen and putting it aside.  
  
“But it was urgent.” Haru objected.  
  
“Haru, mackerel on sale is an urgency for you.” Rin deadpanned.  
  
“Yes, a supermarket nearby is having a sale that starts in an hour.” Haru nodded.  
  
“See?” Rin chuckled and shook his head at his friend’s habits. “Hey,” he suddenly remembered. “How was the goukon the other day?” he asked, the curiosity getting back to him.  
  
Haru’s eyes suddenly sparked up with life and Rin feels his heart clench a bit. “I met Ryoko-chan, you would like her.” Haru said truthfully and Rin felt like he had been just hit by a train.  
  
Did Haru got himself a girlfriend???  
  
“Ah,” Rin mouthed. “I guess I’ll have to meet her when I’m back.”  
  
“In three months,” Haru suggested.  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“You told me you were coming back in late November,” Haru said, his voice taking an unsure tone.  
  
Rin looked at the date in the corner of the screen, without even realizing a whole month had passed by and it was almost September. He made a mental note to find a birthday gift for Sousuke. Maybe he could ask Gou for help.  
  
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I’m back in December,” he confirmed in a whisper and felt his throat dry a little. “I should go,” he said, finding his voice rough. “I went running and still need to take a shower,” he gave in an explanation.  
  
He waited for Haru’s ‘bye’ before disconnecting Skype and slamming down the lid of the laptop, maybe just a little bit too forcefully. He turned on the shower and started stripping off his sweaty clothes while the water heated up; he was down to his underwear when he made a decision.  
  
He walked out of the bathroom and back to the table, picking up his phone from where he had left it.  
  
**To:** Robbie  
_Message: So, about that date…_  


* * *

  
“The mall?” Rin asked curious as Robbie parked the car.  
  
It was the Saturday after Rin had contacted Robbie, accepting the invitation to go out on a date.  He had no idea what to expect from it, which lead him to spend way too much time contemplating his outfit before deciding to just settle on something he would wear to go out with his friends.  
  
“You’ll have to excuse me for not being up to date with Sydney’s best dating spots, I’ve been here just a couple of months and spent most of my free time setting up my place. It was either a mall or an IKEA,” Robbie laughed as they left the car and walked towards the entrance. “But here we have a choice between getting a coffee, watching a movie, shopping or sitting down for a nice dinner.”  
  
The sliding doors closed behind them and Rin looked around. No one seemed to have noticed they were on a date; everyone was just going along minding their own business, ignoring the two boys. “Let’s just walk around for now?” Rin suggested.  
  
“Sure,” Robbie agreed.

 

* * *

“So, how are the classes?” Robbie asked after they exited of a clothes store, a bag with a new pair of pants in his hand.  
  
“Not bad,” Rin shrugged. “It’s interesting to learn about the sports world from the business point of view, although sometimes it gets boring. But it’s the same old, take a class, write papers, study, pass your exam.”  
  
“Need help with any paper?” Robbie chimed in.  
  
Rin snorted. “I think that if I let you help me with any more projects, I’ll start to feel like I’m dating a professor.”  
  
Robbie’s eyebrow arched in amusement. “Ohhh, would this be one of your kinks?” he joked. “Maybe roleplaying?” he wiggled his eyebrows and Rin looked at him dumbfounded, his cheeks going warmer.  
  
“Shut up,” Rin muttered and shoved him into the next shop.

 

* * *

  
Rin was looking at the display of leather wristbands in the accessorize shop they had walked in later, bands in various hues of brown and black hanging in different lengths.  
  
“You like this stuff, right?” Robbie asked and gestured with his hand, motioning at the various accessories around. “Wristbands and the likes?”  
  
“Yeah,” Rin answered. It’s not that he thought of himself as some highly fashionable guy but he always liked looking good. “I’m probably trying to overcompensate for wearing tracksuits eighty percent of the time I’m not in the water,” he joked.  
  
There was a light pressure on his head and he closed his eyes on reflex. When he opened them again, he felt a soft weight still lingering on.  
  
“You look cute,” Robbie smiled and pointed at a mirror behind them. Rin turned around and saw a woolen beanie Robbie had put on his head, it completed the black and grey outfit Rin was wearing that day nicely.  
  
“It’s … nice,” Rin commented at his reflection, turning his head to look at the profile.  
  
Robbie grinned. “My treat,” he exclaimed, snatching the beanie from Rin’s head and messing up Rin’s hair.  
  
“Oi,” Rin complained, his hand instinctively brushing his hair back into place. He wanted to stop Robbie, he didn’t really need a beanie, but the other boy was already at the register with his wallet out.  
  
“Thanks,” Rin said as they walked out of the shop. “But there was no need for it.”  
  
“I didn’t mind it,” Robbie smiled at him before winking. “You can use it to keep your head warm when you get back at night from training.”  
  
Rin felt his cheeks blush a little.  
  
So far the date had been… nice. It wasn’t that much different than any other outing with friends Rin had done but there was something in Robbie that made Rin feel different from when he’d go out with Sousuke, Haru or the others. Something in the way Robbie looked at him and would randomly touch Rin’s back or arm… it was just pleasant.  
  
Dating really wasn’t bad.  
  
“I’m getting hungry,” Robbie interrupted his thoughts and Rin could feel his stomach agreeing with a grumble.  
  
“Where should we go?” Rin asked, looking around at the variety of food places around the mall.  
  
Robbie pointed at a place they had just passed a couple of meters behind. “There’s a Japanese place over there,” he started but Rin interrupted him.  
  
“Please, be more original,” he said half-serious, half-joking.  
  
Robbie snorted back at him. “Well, I was going to say that I’m okay with anything so pick your choice.”  
  
Rin looked around and it took him less than a second to make up his mind.  
  
“Korean,” he decided, walking to the barbecue place in front of them.

 

* * *

  
By the time they finished dinner, and Rin lost his battle for paying at least half of the check, it got late enough for them to decide to go home. They were walking back to the parking lot, Rin’s stomach feeling happily full and his overall mood being pretty content.  
  
He reached the car first and leaned against it, waiting for the other boy to unlock the car. Robbie eventually joined him and unlocked the door, opening it first to put their shopping bags on the backseat.  
  
“Had fun?” he asked as he straightened up.  
  
“I did,” Rin nodded with a smile. “Thanks for today.”  
  
Robbie smiled back at him and despite the dark of the garage park their eyes locked. And in that moment, Rin realized that even with the ridiculous amount of romantic movies he had watched in his life, he had completely forgot about something each one of them featured.  
  
A kiss.  
  
And before he could even realize it, Robbie had already pressed their lips together and Rin’s eyes crossed as he looked at Robbie’s closed eyelids with wide eyes. Robbie’s lips were soft, and they were gentle, and it was pretty much like Rin would expect a first kiss to be.  
  
He still didn’t expect to be kissed on the first date.  
  
Robbie pulled away and his eyes fluttered open, blinking confused at Rin’s wide, and still crossed, eyes.  
  
“Rin? You okay?” he asked with a note of worry in his voice.  
  
Rin gulped and parted his lips before closing them again. They were dry and his tongue slipped out to wet them and… was that the taste of the coke Robbie had drank with his dinner or was Rin just imagining things?  
  
“Haru…” he blurted and shocked himself with his own words.  
  
Robbie looked confused at him. “What?”  
  
Rin bit on his lower lip. “Haru asked me to buy him a book. I totally forgot but there’s a bookstore I saw that should have them. I’ll be right back!” he said before darting back inside the mall, leaving a baffled Robbie behind him.

* * *

Rin felt like an idiot.  
  
He felt like a mortified, dumb idiot and he was desperately wishing the car seat would just swallow him whole. What just happened was going straight to the most mortifying moments of his life, beating the maid café in his second year and the room mishap at the Russell Hotel with Haru.  
  
When he came back to the car with a bag filled with three heavy photo books, Robbie was waiting for him, which had actually surprised him, part of him was sure Robbie would just drop him there and make him go back home on his own.  
  
Instead, Robbie had just asked him if he had everything and after Rin’s nod, he had turned on the engine and drove away from the mall.  
  
And they hadn’t spoken since.  
  
Rin sneaked a glance at Robbie; he didn’t look mad or upset, he was just focused on the road, the night traffic slowing their way back home.  
  
Rin took a deep breath before speaking up. “Sorry about that,” he whispered in a low murmur. “It was my first kiss,” he admitted after a beat and looked out of the window.  
  
Robbie didn’t answer and Rin had to wonder if he had to repeat himself, but he’d feel even more of an idiot doing so.  
  
The car slowed down when they reached a red light and that’s when Robbie finally turned to him.  
  
“Are you serious?” he exclaimed and Rin actually jumped in his seat. “What do you mean that was your first kiss?”  
  
“Oi, I told you,” Rin automatically defended himself. “I’ve never dated anyone!”  
  
“I thought you meant just dating, not that you have never even kissed anyone. If I knew that, I wouldn’t have ordered pickled veggies for dinner!” Robbie said, waving his hands animatedly.  
  
“Well, I only tasted coke,” Rin’s mouth moved without realizing and they just looked at each other.  
  
And Rin lost it and burst out in a laugh, Robbie following him right away.  
  
“Oh God,” Rin managed to say. “This was not the reaction I was expecting.”  
  
“Well, I wasn’t expecting to steal your first kiss either,” Robbie snorted and the car behind had to honk at them to make them realize the light had turned green.  
  
They didn’t exchange a word after, instead they would both occasionally snorted out a laugh, the mood drastically improved since when they left the mall.  
  
At the next red light, Rin felt something on his hand and when he looked down, he saw Robbie had put his left hand on top of Rin’s right one, squeezing it lightly. Rin smiled at the gesture and went to turn his hand but before he could even try doing so, Robbie had brought Rin’s hand onto the gearshift, his hand still on top. They drove the rest of the way like that and Rin had to keep biting on his lip to not grin too much.  
  
Robbie parked his car in front of Rin’s building, eventually letting go of Rin’s hand and stretching his arm on the back seat to pick the small bag with Rin’s beanie.  
  
“You think I could walk you to the door?” he asked gently and Rin smiled, hoping, and secretly wishing, he was reading right between the lines.  
  
“I’d like that,” he answered and they left the car.  
  
There was no one with them in the elevator and Rin was starting to feel his heart beating faster. When the door slid open, he walked out, his keys ready in his hand. He unlocked the door and entered before turning around to look at Robbie.  
  
They were both smiling and Rin had to stop himself from snorting when Robbie leaned against the doorframe, bringing his slightly taller height at the same one as Rin’s.  
  
And that was when Rin moved forward, pressing his lips against Robbie’s, first softly and then adding a bit more of pressure, feeling Robbie’s lips parting against his. The gentle and soft feeling was still there and Rin clenched his fingers around the bag of books in his hand, sensing something moist pressing against his lips. He opened his mouth a little, letting Robbie’s tongue slid inside just a bit, just enough to touch Rin’s before retreating back, his lips instead sucking on Rin’s bottom one.  
  
Rin gave Robbie’s upper lip one small nibble before pulling away.  
  
“Yeah, you really should have skipped the kimchi,” he said, pressing his lips together and taking the bag with the beanie from Robbie’s fingers.  
  
Robbie smiled at him. “I guess we should keep that in mind for next time,” he commented.  
  
“We definitely should,” Rin grinned. “Goodnight, Robbie,” he said, stepping back and grabbing the door knob.  
  
“’Night, Rinnie,” Robbie gave him a small wave before walking backwards to the elevator and disappearing behind the closing doors.

Rin was biting on his lower lip as he walked into the living area of his apartment, dropping his keys and the bags on the dining table; he took out the books and left them near his messenger bag, so he won’t forget to take them to the post office on Monday. He was considering sending Haru a quick email to let him know about them when his eyes landed on the beanie. He took it to kitchen counter and took a pair of scissors, cutting off the label tag. He walked to the big mirror near the front door and put on the beanie, grinning at his reflection. His cheeks were still a bit red and his eyes seemed to be sparkling.  
  
After grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and his phone, he walked out on the balcony, sitting on one of the two plastic chairs.  
  
He fumbled through his address book, pressing down a number and brought the phone to his ear.  
  
“Hello?” Julie answered after a few rings.  
  
Rin took a deep breath and started. “I know I’m gonna sound like a teen girl but I need to tell someone…”  


 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's see if I can manage to finish this story in time for season 3... Thanks to Lin for being the beta :D


	4. Teal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had no idea I was going to post today so I actually don't know what to write here. Thanks to Lin/extraordinary for being the beta and YES the rating changed, but I can assure you it is not what you think (yet).

 

With his feet propped on the chair at the dining table, Rin was spending his Saturday afternoon chilling at his home, flipping through a couple of new sports magazines he hadn’t had the time to check properly yet. He was giving himself some time off, for once. He didn’t know where his friends were exactly, but for once he hadn’t planned anything with them. 

Robbie, his _boyfriend_  Robbie – Rin reminded himself with a smile, was busy with work so Rin decided to spend his time off remaining at home, reading something with his laptop turned on and Skype running in case one of his friends was up for a chat. Planned weekly Skype sessions turned out to be tricky to go through with; so Rin and his friends decided that it was easier to just have the program running anytime one of them had time to chat, and see when others were online.

Except Haru, who would usually just send Rin a text or email whenever he wanted to talk.

His phone started buzzing and Rin grabbed it, accepting the call without looking up from the magazine in front of him.

“Hello?”

“Is your door unlocked?” Robbie’s voice came with a slight pant and Rin frowned.

“Yes…?” he answered unsure; was he about to get scolded for not locking up his front door in the middle of the day?

“Okay,” Robbie just replied before ending the call.

Rin looked confused at the screen, the call timer had stopped and was showing that indeed – the call had ended. He turned his head to the front door just in time to see Robbie himself walking through, a smile on his face.

“I’m in a rush to go back to work, I just brought back the books you forgot at my place the other day,” he said in a hurried voice before continuing, “A neighbor let me in.”

He dropped the books on the table near the laptop and looked at Rin.

“Hey,” he said with a smile.

Rin grinned back. “Hi.” 

Robbie then leaned over, trying to catch Rin’s lips in a quick kiss but Rin’s reflexes were quicker. He wrapped his hands around Robbie’s face and prolonged the kiss just a bit longer, just enough for their tongues to meet and Rin’s teeth to nip at Robbie’s lip. 

Robbie eventually moved away with a grin matching Rin’s own.

“I’ll be busy for the next days but let’s plan a dinner later this week, okay?”

Rin nodded. “Okay.”

Robbie chuckled one more time and ran his hand through Rin’s hair before dropping another kiss on top of Rin’s now messy head.

“Hey,” Rin protested but Robbie was already closing the door, shouting out a _bye_ behind him.

Rin snorted and turned back to his magazine, his eyes just skipping over the screen on his laptop.

His smile died down and his blood ran cold.

Through the screen, Sousuke was looking at him.

Rin opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out. He didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know what to say, his best friend had just seen him shoving his tongue down another man’s throat… _or hadn’t he?_

Rin cleared his throat with a cough. “Hey Sousuke,” he greeted cheerfully, maybe there had been a lag in the connection, he just had to act like nothing had happened. “What’s up?”

He also had to change the setting for automatically answering video calls.

Through the screen he saw his friends shaking his head. “Rin, if you want to pretend like I didn’t see it, we can do it but just so you know… I saw you.”

Rin felt his shoulders drop. “Oh,” he bit on his lip. What was he supposed to do now? He knew that at some point he’d have to come out to his best friend, heck he had considered doing it for a while but… he still wasn’t really prepared to do so.

“I mean,” Sousuke continued with his calm voice. “I knew that sooner or later I’d see this, I was just not expecting to see this guy… who even is he?”

Rin blinked in confusion.

“Wait, what?” he asked. “You’re not surprised I’m kissing a boy?”

Sousuke shrugged on the screen. “You don’t have the best track record with being subtle, Rin.”

Rin felt a bit mortified. What was this supposed to mean? Did he unconsciously make moves on his friends in the past? Being a swimmer he obviously spent a lot of time in the locker room with his friends, of course they were more naked than dressed most of the times but he was sure he had never ogled any of them, he was too self conscious about that.

Well, of course after he came back from Australia and patched things up with his friends he _might_  have sneaked a look the first times, but it wasn’t peeking, it was just… pure curiosity to see how puberty treated them in those years. Didn’t everyone do that? He was pretty sure he saw a ruler sticking out of Nagisa’s training bag at one point.

But what if Nagisa was also gay?

“Rin…” Sousuke’s voice brought him back to the reality and he exhaled nervously. “Stop freaking out,” his friend said.

“But I…” Rin started yet he didn’t really know what to say. “You…”

Sousuke sighed and Rin - despite the nerves that were making him stomach do flips - felt a tiny bit of relief at the sight of his friend’s calm expression.

“We’ve been best friends since elementary school, you really shouldn’t be surprised I’ve noticed it. And if you’re freaking out about me saying you weren’t subtle, I meant in private circles, you weren’t sporting boners while timing the first years in high school, relax,” he said in a chuckle.

Rin felt a weight being lifted from his shoulders and he sagged a bit in the chair.

“I’m sorry for freaking out,” he admitted. “I haven’t really told anyone back home yet so you seeing _that_ threw me off a bit,” he explained, scratching nervously the back of his neck.

Sousuke’s face frowned in confusion on the screen. “Nanase doesn’t know?” he asked.

Rin frowned back. “No, I didn’t tell anyone and please let me tell Gou. And why would Haru know, anyway?”

“Nothing,” Sousuke shook his head. “So, who is the guy? A swimmer?”

“Ah,” Rin straightened up his posture and brought one foot up on the chair, now visibly more relaxed after realizing his best friend had no issues with him being gay. “His name is Robbie, he is Lori’s nephew, we’ve known each other for years. He is…” the words stopped on the tip of his tongue, a smile appearing on his face at the realization of what was he about to say out loud for the very first time. “He is my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend, huh?” Sousuke teased. “That serious?”

Rin snorted. “Not really, we kind of got into it knowing it won’t last since I’m leaving in a couple of months,” he explained with a shrug.

“No romance?” Sousuke inquired half jokingly. “Who are you? What happened to Rin Matsuoka for getting himself a fuck buddy?”  
  
“Hey,” Rin objected, his face flushing red. “We’re not fuck buddies, we’re just dating… what else was I supposed to do?” he frowned. “It’s not that I can happily date a boy once I’m back in Japan…” he sulked. “Also, enough about my love life, what about yours?” he suddenly shot back, trying to change the subject of the conversation.

“I’m dating your sister, I don’t think you want to know the details…” Sousuke laughed.

“Argh,” Rin dragged his hands down his face exasperated. “Okay, fine, why did you call me? Was there anything you wanted or were you just up to see how to tease me on this fine Sunday?”

“Oh, right,” Sousuke suddenly remembered. “I wanted to ask you what hotel you were staying when you went to Sydney with Nanase and is it close to your place?”

“The Russell Hotel?” Rin wondered. “It is about an hour away, why?”

“Well, Gou and I said we’d come visit and help you pack to move back home, right? I was making the reservations…”

“You’re not staying at that hotel,” Rin suddenly objected.

“Why not?” Sousuke asked confused. “I thought it was a nice hotel and Gou said she also wanted to visit the city…”

“They fucked up my reservation and gave us a double bed,” Rin said. “Also, you’re not staying in a hotel with my sister, you can sleep at my place.”

“…you shared a bed with Nanase?”

Rin groaned. He had forgotten that he really didn’t like to share that tiny detail about the trip. “Yeah, the hotel made a mistake with the reservation.”

“The hotel did, huh?” Sousuke laughed.

“Oi,” Rin groaned. “Anyway, don’t make reservations, you can sleep here, there’s enough space.”

“Okay, fine… I’ll let you know when we book the tickets, okay?”

“Okay,” Rin smiled. He was actually looking forward to Sousuke and his sister visiting. Maybe he could plan a double date with Robbie, but he’d also have to come out to his sister…

“I have to go now, dad wants me move stuff around in the studio.” 

Rin nodded. “Okay, tell him hi.”

“I will,” Sousuke nodded back. “Ah, Rin?”

“Yes?” 

“One day we will think back to this conversation and you will be mortified at your own blindness.”

“What do you mean?”

Sousuke just waved with an amused face and logged off.

Rin frowned.

 

* * *

 

_‘You’re coming over this Friday? :)’_

_‘Okay, but I warn you, I’ll be hungry.’_

_‘For food or… ;)’_

_‘Idiot… I’m coming right after my training.’_

“So, what do you think I should do?” Ben said, bringing Rin’s attention back to his actual surroundings.

“Sorry?” Rin said, blinking twice confused. “I wasn’t really listening.”

“I’ve noticed that,” Ben chuckled. “I asked how you think Leah’s date went.”

“Ahhh,” Rin nodded, figures Ben would be talking about her and the date she apparently had with this random new boy. “Well, I think you should relax. You know her, if there was a second date I’m pretty sure all of us would know about it by now.”

Ben sighed and put his head down on the table of the bistrot they were currently sitting at for their lunch break.

Rin felt a little bit of sympathy for his friend.

“You think I should ask her out?” Ben suddenly asked, straightening up his back just in time for the waitress to bring their orders.

“Thanks,” Rin said to the girl before looking at Ben in shock. “What? Where does this come from?”

Ben’s face fell. “You think she’d say no?”

Rin sighed and squirted a dollop of ketchup near his fries. “I’m saying I don’t know why are you considering this. Weren’t you the one who said we choose a different path that focuses on swimming instead of our love lives?”

“I know,” Ben said as he stabbed the pasta with maybe a tiny bit too much force. “But I was wondering, what if I give it a try? You know what I’m talking about.”

Rin frowned. “What is this supposed to mean?”

Ben snorted. “Come on, Rin. I saw your face earlier when you were texting, you’ve been getting some lately.”

Rin’s cheeks and ears flushed, has he been so blatant? And sure, he and Robbie were… well, _dating,_ as much as the word still sounded foreign to his ears but Rin wouldn’t really call it getting it some… or would he?

“Straight to the bull’s eye,” Ben said, eating another forkful.

“Okay, fine, but we’re not talking about _me_ right now,” Rin said exasperated. “Aren’t you leaving next week for the World Cup preparations? You really think this would be the right time to try starting something with Leah?”

“Crap,” Ben said, obviously having forgotten his other commitments.

Rin smiled sympathetically. “Why don’t you invite her to the Sydney meet? Maybe she will get intrigued by your flaunted half naked body,” he said, trying to cheer up his friends.

“We’ve been at the beach countless times before, she won’t see anything she hasn’t seen before.”

“You don’t go to the beach wearing speedos.” Rin grinned teasingly. “Listen, I’ll invite her, ok? I was going to come see you anyway, I’ll ask her to tag along and help me cheer for you.”

“You will?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Mate, you’re awesome. I swear, I owe you one.

 

* * *

 

Rin was half aware of the noise surrounding him and half asleep against the soft touch of the cushion under him. He could hear the sizzling on the stove coming to an end and the fizzling of the hot pan hitting the cold and wet sink, as well as he could feel the softness of the couch cushions’ molding against his back in a comfortable hug. There was more noise but Rin just ignored it, his breaths becoming deeper and slower as he felt himself coming closer and closer to falling asleep, nothing was going to stop him from leave his resting nest.

Or so he thought until a pair of now really familiar lips pressed against his own as another weight lied down on the couch near him.

“You always seem to fall asleep when with me, I’m starting to believe you find me boring.”

Rin exhaled through his nose and looped his arm blindly, throwing it over Robbie’s waist, and pulled him closer until their chest were pressed together.

“Swimmers are always sleepy and hungry,” Rin muttered in a half-assed apology.

Robbie’s hand landed on his side, his thumb pulling up the T-shirt just barely enough for the pad to stroke the soft skin there. “Good thing the dinner is in the oven.”

Rin’s eye slid half-open at the mention of food.

“What are you cooking?” he asked curious, his stomach waking up faster than his brain.

“Just some veggie and fish.”

“Not mackerel, I hope.” Rin muttered, finally opening both of his eyes.

“Huh?” Robbie looked at him surprise. “No, it’s tuna. I don’t think I ever had fresh mackerel… is it any good?”

Rin shrugged, ignoring the mental image of the expression Haru would have made if he were there.

“Depends on how it is cooked. It has a lot of protein.”

“So does tuna, right?” Robbie asked. “You said you lay low on carbs on dinner…”

Rin suddenly blinked his eyes, a realization forming in his head. “Did you just make me a dinner high in protein and low on carbs?”

“Technically it is still cooking, but yes, that was the plan. You’ll have to wait ten more minutes to see if the results are any good.”

“Shall I go set the table then?”

“Already done.”

“Hmmm, what should we do to pass the time then?” Rin teased.

“I might have an idea…”

Rin grinned and pulled forcefully until Robbie was half laying atop on him, a kiss not waiting behind. He closed his eyes and slowly parted his lips, letting Robbie deepen the kiss. It had been just a couple of weeks and Rin had come to the realization that he didn’t mind dating, _at all._ Especially not when it came with so many kisses – quick pecks or long tongue battling ones, Rin liked them all. Kissing was simply the best thing about dating. And Rin thought he could really get used to that.

Rin’s hands moved down Robbie’s back, the fingers tapping across the fabric of a T-shirt until he reached Robbie’s waist. He pulled with strength until Robbie was full on top of him, one leg between Rin’s. The kiss was making Rin dizzy but he couldn’t stop, his tongue kept stroking against Robbie’s, tasting him more and more. Rin felt Robbie’s thigh moving against his crotch, a deep moan escaping him when he realized that his body was way more awake than what he thought.

A ring buzzed from the kitchen and Robbie pulled away from the kiss with a groan.

They sat up, both still panting and Rin felt almost ashamed at the realization that yup, he had gotten half hard from just kissing on the couch.

“Food is ready,” Robbie said and stood up, offering Rin a hand. Rin accepted it and let himself be pulled up on his feet.

Robbie gave him another kiss.

“Next time I might use a slow cooker,” he said when he pulled back.

 

* * *

 

“So, I was wondering,” Robbie said an hour later, as they were loading the dishing machine.  “Any plans for Labor’s day?”

“Not really,” Rin passed him the glasses. “I might go to Lori on Monday for the barbecue if she invites me.”

“Well, then I have a proposal,” Robbie solemnly said as he slammed the machine close and turned it on.

Rin arched an eyebrow curiously at him.

“You’re only busy in the morning, right?”

Rin nodded. “Yeah, I have just training at the gym, I am done by 10.”

“Great,” Robbie grinned. “What if I come pick you up straight there and we have a roadtrip up to Brisbane for the weekend? We can leave on Monday morning and be back in time for Auntie Lori’s barbecue.”

“Brisbane?” Rin asked curiously.

“Ever been there?”

“I think we went there for a school trip back when I was in middle school, but I don’t really remember much of it.”

“One more reason to go then,” Robbie said amused. “So, what do you say? Shall I make a room reservation?”

Rin took a second to consider. He usually spent the Labor day’s weekend studying, since the Olympic pool was too overcrowded with people for him to even bother going for a swim. But this year he wasn’t falling back with his program and even his project was going pretty well thanks to Robbie’s help. Not to mention, he had no idea when he’d be able to have a weekend off after his return to Japan.

“Fine, let’s do it.”

 

* * *

 

“…you do it?”

“Huh?” Rin asked, pulling the earbuds of his iPod out of his ears. “Can you repeat that?” he looked at Julie who was sitting at the bench. They were again at the park, for their weekly jogging and Rin had just finished another lap around the running track while Julie had dropped on the bench after their usual two.

“I asked you how can you do it,” Julie repeated, offering Rin a bottle of water. “I am dead after two and look at you, still fresh and ready for another lap,” she sighed. “Motherhood didn’t bring me this kind of stamina.”

Rin’s lips twitched in a smile and took a sip of the water. “I’m working on my stamina,” he explained, lifting a foot and pressing the heel towards his lower back. “I’m thinking of trying for the individual medley and maybe the 400 meters free.”

“Whoa,” Julie whistled. “Already for the next Olympics?”

Rin nodded. “That’s the plan.”

“Does Haru know this? Didn’t he compete in 400 free in Melbourne?”

“Yeah,” Rin nodded again and moved to stretch his other leg. “But I still have to tell him, I’m waiting for my time to get at least a bit close to his.”

Julie grinned. “You haven’t raced against him yet in an official competition, right?”

“Only at the national qualifiers,” Rin answered. He did race for a spot in the 100 free, but he came third for just a millisecond. “Are you up for another lap?” he tilted his head towards the track.

“Oh no,” Julie replied quickly, sighing with defeat. “I’m beaten… and I have to go pick Sophie soon. Oh hey, I have a favor to ask, could you babysit Sophie next Saturday?”

Rin frowned. “Labour day weekend?”

Julie nodded.

“Sorry,” Rin said with a raise of his shoulder. “I’m going to Brisbane with Robbie for the weekend.”

Julie’s ears perked up and her eyebrows arched high. “Ohh? Romantic getaway? She asked, wiggling her eyebrows. “Don’t forget the precaution, _Rinnie._ ” She enunciated the last word, imitating Robbie’s way of saying Rin’s nickname way too well.

“Whaa?” Rin asked, blushing furiously.

“What?” Julies asked, almost sounding innocent. “I’m guessing you’ll stay at a hotel?”

“Yeah but…” Rin’s word died in his throat. To be honest the thought he would share a bed with Robbie didn’t even cross his mind, not even for a second.  “We haven’t gone _that_ … far,” he hissed with clenched teeth. “You think he…?” he left the question linger, hoping Julie would get the rest of it on her own.

“Isn’t this a question you should ask him? It seems you two are doing pretty good from what you told me about that time you two were on the couch…”

“Gaah,” Rin flailed and pressed his hand against Julie’s mouth. He looked around nervously, afraid that anyone could hear their talk – but there was only one other runner close enough to hear them, who was running with earbuds in her ears. “Go pick up your daughter, I have two more laps to run,” he blurted before fumbling with his earbuds again and getting back on the running track.

He increased the volume, trying to synch his steps with the beat of the track and willing himself to not think about the Pandora box Julie had just opened but the more he tried, the more her words came returning to him.

Precautions meant condoms and condoms meant sex.

And Rin wasn’t sure he was ready for that.

Sure he did masturbate, swimming couldn’t take all of the edge off and he would be lying if he’d say that one time on the couch with Robbie had been the only time he had found himself stiff. But there was a mutual silent agreement about that, and they’d part when things went a little too heated up, Robbie would always pull back and…

Did Robbie do that on purpose because he knew Rin was inexperienced?

Did he invite Rin to Brisbane to actually give him a new experience?

Rin’s eyes widened at the realization, and he tripped on his own feet when two words crossed his mind.

_Anal sex._

Rin caught his balance and slowed down his pace, putting back the bud that had slipped off of an ear. He picked up his pace again and took a turn out of the park, deciding to continue running back home – his mind still racing.

How would that even work with them? Who’d take what role, Rin wondered. Question after question came popping up in his head, slowly driving him crazy because he had no idea how to answer them. It’s not that he could ask any of his friends back in Japan; not only had he not come out to them yet but he doubted any of them had any experience in sex…

Maybe Sousuke had but Rin didn’t really want to think about _that._

Rin took a turn down his street and almost came crashing into a store sign, grabbing the sides of it to prevent it from crashing on the sidewalk.

It was a body shop that must have opened recently, because Rin didn’t remember ever seeing it.

‘Special offer: bubble bars.’ The sign said, a big pink and green arrow drawn in chalk and pointing towards the entrance.

Rin followed the arrow and looked at the display in the windows. A variety of colored balls were shown, each one with a description more ridiculous than the other.

But a blue and white one caught his eyes.

‘Take a bath in the sky, surrounded by fluffy, foamy clouds,’ said the bubble above them.

 

_“What do you even do so much time in the bathtub?”_

_“Whatever makes me feel good.”_

 

Haru’s words suddenly reechoed in his mind and Rin’s hand went to the small pocket of his running pants where he kept his house keys and some change in case of emergency.

“Fuck this,” he muttered to himself and entered the store.

 

* * *

 

The white and blue soap ball laid already forgotten in a small basket Rin kept in his bathroom with a variety of other body products, as he himself was leaving his body at the mercy of the strong force of the shower, the water falling steadily over his back muscles, the small jets of sprayed water pricking at his skin like small needles.

He grabbed a washcloth and poured a dollop of shower gel on it, starting to massage it over his limbs with maybe a tad bit of too much force, leaving reddened skin behind. Rin was hoping to wash away the sudden nerves Julie’s words had brought up but he just couldn’t shake them off. He turned the mixing valve towards the blue dot, making the jet of water stronger and colder as he turned around and slipped down the tiles until he was sitting on the bottom of the bathtub, the water needles now hitting right onto his shoulders and neck muscles.

Rin knew how sex between two males worked; he actually did watch a movie like that from time to time. And he had enjoyed what he had watched. And somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that one day he might as well be in their positions, it just never occurred to him that it could be happening so soon or with Robbie.

Heck, Rin had never even tried to finger himself.

Rin tilted his head back and closed his eyes, leaving his face now open to the water stream.

Maybe he could try it.

He sneaked a hand down his torso and towards his crotch, giving his cock a tentative tug. He cupped his balls with his other hand, massaging them between his fingers before slipping the hand down, until his index fingers was pressed between his cheeks.

Perhaps the shower was not really the best place to try it.

With a sigh, he turned off the water and carefully left the tub. He didn’t bother toweling off, instead he just wrapped a bathrobe around his body, not even tying it in front of him – a perk of living alone, he thought. He did grab the big towel he had prepared on the rack and brought it to his bedroom, spreading it nicely in the middle of the mattress.

Only one more thing was needed for what he was set to try and Rin knew where to get it. He didn’t really have a proper sex lube; the majority of times when he masturbated was in the shower anyway, but he did have a tube of Vaseline in his training bag. Pretty much every swimmer had one for the instances when too much time spent in the pool left patches of their skin dry, and Rin had an almost full tube on him. Grabbing it from the front pocket of his duffel bag he walked back to his bedroom, dropped his bathrobe on an armchair that was there and took a deep breath before laying down on the towel. He really shouldn’t be that nervous, is not that there’d be anyone with him. His head hit the pillow and a grimace appeared on his face before he pulled up again. He grabbed the second pillow, stacking it above the other one and laid back down – now he could easily look down his body.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Rin said to himself. He let his fingers dance down his chest, the tips scattering around his abs.

And then he stopped and went to close the door to his bedroom. Even if he was living alone, jerking off with your door open still felt too weird.

Also, it was too bright.

He pulled half way down the curtains, letting the sunlight through only at the bottom, just a narrow triangle of light illuminating the floor in front of the bed.

Rin returned to the bed, settling down just as before and yes, that was way better.

Opening the tube of Vaseline, he squeezed a bit of it onto his right index finger, carefully closing the tube and dropping it on the mattress again.

With another deep exhale, he bent his legs at the knees and let his left hand slide down the skin under the belly button, his fingertips teasing the light prickle of his hair. He made a mental note to shave himself later and right after reprimanded himself. That was not the time to think about grooming.

It was time to think about something, _somebody_ else. It didn’t even have to be Robbie, Rin decided. An unknown male body would have worked as well. Lean, with muscles and dark haired. Rin imagined how would it be if the hand squeezing his cock was the one of this anonymous man and not his own. He took a deep breath, feeling his erection growing and getting heavier with blood.

He brought his left hand to use as well, letting the tips of his middle and ring finger flutter across his sack, giving it a soft massage. Rin groaned as he twisted his left hand around his glans, the precome wetting his palm.

Gulping down the saliva that gathered in his mouth, Rin lowered his right hand finally, using the ring and middle fingers now to part one asscheek to the side so he could spread the lube on his index fingers in between.

He hissed at the feeling of coldness against his warm skin, but it wasn’t unpleasant, just unexpected. Rin was reminded of the feeling over his skin when he’d jump into the water on a warm day, without splashing his skin first – it was a shock at first but then a nice feeling would spread across all of his body.

His left hand continued stroking his cock and Rin focused on the movements of his right hand. He spread the lube with the tip of his fingers down the crease, until it reached his rim. Trying not to think too much about his actions, he let the tip slip inside down to the first knuckle. And then he pulled it out and back again, repeating the motions and slowly rotating the tip along the rim.

It wasn’t painful, not yet at least, but it still wasn’t that pleasant either.

But his cock was feeling the consequences and Rin loosened his grip to slip down to massage his balls again, not wanting to come just yet.

He slid his finger down his crease, wetting it with more lube before pressing inside again, down past the second knuckle.

He stilled his motions and opened his eyes, realizations coming through the back of his mind along with a slow pain.

The first was that his fingers were probably long enough to reach his prostate. The second was that he still had no idea what the hell he was doing and how to reach it.

Groaning with frustration, he pulled his index out and slid it again down the crease, along with the middle finger and trying his best to coat them both with a layer of lube.

He pressed them against his hole again, now loosened barely enough for them to slide in to his second knuckles and tried to keep them in place, giving him a feeling of fullness that he was starting to enjoy. His left hand returned to his cock, resuming the stroking at a faster pace – Rin was set on just coming right now.

He started moving his right hand, not sliding out but just pressing against the rim and he extended his right thumb, just enough to reach across the perineum and press under his sack.

Rin groaned, pressing his heels against the mattress and thrusting into his left hand, before pushing back against the right one. He squeezed his eyes tightly and a whimper escaped his lips.

“Haaa…” his moan ended in a high pitch as he came, white liquid painting his chest as his body shook and dropped on the bed. He was still breathing deeply when he slowly pulled his fingers out of his ass, wiping them on the towel underneath him.

He felt his muscles still tremble as he looked down his body, his cock now spent between his legs.

Rin sighed.

He needed another shower.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone sticking around this story and even giving it a try (I can guess the Rin/OMC is not the most alluring of tags...).

**Author's Note:**

> A massive and huge thank you to Hina, Lin and Claudia for being there and listening to my meltdowns and epiphanies for the past year and a special shout out to Hina for helping fixing the grammar and everything that I fail at write.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr [here](gettinglostinneverland.tumblr.com).


End file.
